Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach Craig Dickenson believes franchise quarterback Trevor Harris will be ready to start on Friday when his team hosts the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“I think he’s going to be fine. He’s got a little hip pointer and so we just wanted him to watch the other guys work today. It’s a short week, so we held him back today. We expect him to practice fully tomorrow,” he told the media in Regina on Tuesday.
“He’s played a lot of games and our training staff recommended that he take the day off, so I listened to our training camp staff.”
Harris completed 20-of-33 pass attempts for 179 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in his debut with the club, helping lead the Riders to a 17-13 victory over the Edmonton Elks. He was injured on Saskatchewan’s final offensive play of the game when he took a big hit while delivering a pass designed to run out the clock, which drew criticism from pundits around the league.
“We’ve just gotta execute it better, it’s the right call. I get hired to try to win games and put guys in good situations and we just didn’t execute it very well. In hindsight, I wish he would have thrown it a little sooner because we weren’t going to kill all the clock but we’ve just gotta block it better,” said Dickenson.
“We put it in on day three (of practice) last week, we probably should have put it in a little sooner. We’ll execute it better and next time the quarterback won’t take the hit.”
Dickenson did not provide an update on Derel Walker, who left Sunday’s game late with injury. He also revealed that Canadian offensive lineman Philip Blake, who was added to the six-game injured list last week, underwent surgery for a torn pectoral muscle. He classified the injury as “long-term” but didn’t rule him out for the season.
The Riders (1-0) are scheduled to host the Blue Bombers (1-0) on Friday with kickoff slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT. This will mark the first of three meetings between the prairie rivals this season with the other two coming in the Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl.
“They check all the boxes, it’s a veteran team that played very well in Week 1,” said Dickenson. “They’ve got all their superstars playing well and clicking, so it’s going to be a big test for us. We’re excited to do it, though. It’s fun to see how you measure up especially early in the season to the best team in the league.”
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