Latest news with #MosaicStadium
National Post
6 hours ago
- General
- National Post
Tommy Stevens feels at home in Roughriders' quarterback room
Despite being on a new team this year, quarterback Tommy Stevens is already comfortable in his surroundings. Article content Article content After signing with the Roughriders during free agency this off-season, the short-yardage specialist joined a club that already featured fellow quarterback and former Calgary Stampeders teammate Jake Maier — who was acquired by the Riders earlier in the off-season — along with offensive coordinator Marc Mueller, who was Calgary's quarterbacks coach for Stevens' first three seasons. Article content Article content In fact, reuniting with Mueller — who is in his second year as Saskatchewan's play caller — was one of the reasons Stevens chose the Roughriders in free agency. Playing in front of Saskatchewan's fan base as a member of the home team was another. Article content 'I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't fired up that this was going to be a possibility,' Stevens said as the Roughriders prepare for Thursday's season opener (7 p.m., TSN) against the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium. 'Glad it all worked out. Really happy to be here. I mean, this place is incredible. I think it's nicer every time I'm in here. Article content 'I'm glad I won't be a visitor in here. I'm glad this will be home.' Article content In his three years with the Stampeders, the 28-year-old Stevens developed into one of the CFL's elite short-yardage specialists. Last year, he rushed the ball 60 times for 237 yards — a four-yard average — with 10 rushing touchdowns, which was tied for the league lead. Article content Along with Maier, Stevens joins a quarterback in Saskatchewan room that also features veteran starter Trevor Harris and second-year pivot Jack Coan, who played college football at Notre Dame before coming to Saskatchewan in 2024. Article content 'Obviously me and Jake have been pretty close for, I guess this will be going on the fourth season we've been together,' said Stevens. 'But coming in with the new guys with Trev and Jack, they've been great. Article content Article content 'I think that's super important. And especially in our room — only one guy can play, right. So being able to have that kind of relationship, being able to bounce ideas off of each other. Article content 'Obviously, Trevor's been around for a while, and Jack's played some big-time football too, so just being able to hear their perspective on things, how they go about their process, how they read certain plays, what they think that we should do on whatever it may be, it's been helpful.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Roughriders hit the field for Day 1 of regular season practice
Trevor Harris felt like a kid on Christmas on Sunday. With the CFL pre-season in the books, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback — back for his 13th season in the CFL — and the rest of his teammates hit the field at Mosaic Stadium for Day 1 of practice in Week 1 of a brand-new season. 'Everybody kind of longs for that feeling of waking up Christmas morning not knowing what Santa Claus brought you,' Harris said ahead of Saskatchewan's season opener on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN) against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks. 'And that's what football season is. It still gives me butterflies in my stomach coming out here to practice every single day.' For Harris, who is one of Saskatchewan's many returning veterans, he's grateful to be back under centre for a third year with the Roughriders after missing time with separate knee injuries in back-to-back years. 'When you strap the helmet on, you feel like you're a kid out here,' said Harris, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday. 'I don't feel my age. 'There's been a lot of times where I didn't know when the next snap (would be) or if it was going to happen, or when it was going to happen, and a lot of times where I thought it was going to be done. 'I'm just really, really thankful that I'm here and getting the opportunity to be the quarterback this franchise. It's something that I'll never take for granted.' Following two pre-season games and an 18-day training camp, the Roughriders were forced to make roster decisions on Saturday as the team cut 17 players, added 11 to the practice roster, returned five to school and suspended one. And while it was an exciting day for some of the players to find out they had made the team, there were also some tough conversations with the players who were let go. 'You get to know these guys on a little bit of a deeper level and you know that's our decision to do that, knowing that the inevitable of just making final cuts, but it never makes it easier,' said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. 'It's not an awesome day, until you get that first team meeting.' While the biggest names who were released were twin linebackers Justin and Jordan Herdman-Reed, the Roughriders found a way to keep all four quarterbacks on the roster with Harris, Jake Maier, Tommy Stevens and Jack Coan all sticking around. 'When you have good quarterbacks, you don't let them go,' said Harris. 'I think that there's quite a few guys that could be franchise quarterbacks in that room. 'I think we're all learning from each other, and I think that everybody's better than us in some way, and in that, we're always learning.' While Harris is the unquestioned starter, Maier provides solid experience as a backup while Stevens will handle short-yardage duties. Coan, in his second year, appears to be a promising prospect the Roughriders want to keep around to develop. 'I thought Jack played a really good pre-season game, and he's been showing his skill set throughout camp and truthfully throughout his time with us since he's been here,' said Mace. 'So, we wanted to see if there was a way that we can get all four and glad that we got that done to have those guys here.' While many are predicting Saskatchewan to have a strong season this year, Harris says it's important for the group to focus on one day at a time. However, they aren't shying away from the high expectations either. 'It's about building that great team from Day 1,' said Harris. 'I think a lot of times people do talk about the expectations or whatever, but ultimately, it's how we perform and how we build and how we grow as a team each and every day. 'But if you have expectations, that means you've done something right in the past, and you're going in the right direction. So I think we're in going in the right way.' tshire@ Roughriders make final roster cuts; finalize active roster for 2025 10 thoughts: Top takeaways from Roughriders' pre-season finale The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
National Post
a day ago
- General
- National Post
Roughriders hit the field for Day 1 of regular season practice
Article content Trevor Harris felt like a kid on Christmas on Sunday. Article content Article content With the CFL pre-season in the books, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback — back for his 13th season in the CFL — and the rest of his teammates hit the field at Mosaic Stadium for Day 1 of practice in Week 1 of a brand-new season. Article content 'Everybody kind of longs for that feeling of waking up Christmas morning not knowing what Santa Claus brought you,' Harris said ahead of Saskatchewan's season opener on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN) against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks. 'And that's what football season is. It still gives me butterflies in my stomach coming out here to practice every single day.' Article content For Harris, who is one of Saskatchewan's many returning veterans, he's grateful to be back under centre for a third year with the Roughriders after missing time with separate knee injuries in back-to-back years. Article content 'When you strap the helmet on, you feel like you're a kid out here,' said Harris, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday. 'I don't feel my age. Article content 'There's been a lot of times where I didn't know when the next snap (would be) or if it was going to happen, or when it was going to happen, and a lot of times where I thought it was going to be done. Article content 'I'm just really, really thankful that I'm here and getting the opportunity to be the quarterback this franchise. It's something that I'll never take for granted.' Article content Following two pre-season games and an 18-day training camp, the Roughriders were forced to make roster decisions on Saturday as the team cut 17 players, added 11 to the practice roster, returned five to school and suspended one. Article content And while it was an exciting day for some of the players to find out they had made the team, there were also some tough conversations with the players who were let go. Article content 'You get to know these guys on a little bit of a deeper level and you know that's our decision to do that, knowing that the inevitable of just making final cuts, but it never makes it easier,' said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. 'It's not an awesome day, until you get that first team meeting.' Article content Article content While the biggest names who were released were twin linebackers Justin and Jordan Herdman-Reed, the Roughriders found a way to keep all four quarterbacks on the roster with Harris, Jake Maier, Tommy Stevens and Jack Coan all sticking around. Article content 'When you have good quarterbacks, you don't let them go,' said Harris. 'I think that there's quite a few guys that could be franchise quarterbacks in that room. Article content 'I think we're all learning from each other, and I think that everybody's better than us in some way, and in that, we're always learning.' Article content While Harris is the unquestioned starter, Maier provides solid experience as a backup while Stevens will handle short-yardage duties. Coan, in his second year, appears to be a promising prospect the Roughriders want to keep around to develop.
National Post
3 days ago
- General
- National Post
Roughriders fall 27-20 to Blue Bombers in pre-season finale
Article content The Saskatchewan Roughriders pre-season is officially in the books. Article content Article content Now the Green and White can look ahead to the 2025 regular season. Article content On Friday night, the Roughriders elected to rest many veterans in their second and final CFL pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium. After losing their pre-season opener 15-9 last week in Winnipeg, the Roughriders were once again on the losing side on Friday night as they fell 27-20 to drop to 0-2 in the pre-season. Article content Article content When Friday's game got underway after a one-hour delay due to poor air quality from the wildfire smoke in the area, it was the Bombers — who also sat many starters — striking first as quarterback Chris Streveler led the Blue and Gold on a 12-play, 78-yard drive capped off with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Keric Wheatfall. Article content With Trevor Harris not dressing, Jake Maier got the start for the Roughriders. Article content After a two-and-out by Saskatchewan, Bombers' veteran quarterback Zach Collaros entered the game for Winnipeg and proceeded to throw back-to-back 40-yard passes to Dalton Schoen and Wheatfall, with the second toss into the end zone to make it 14-0. Article content On Saskatchewan's second drive of the game, Maier hit Mitch Picton for a 28-yard game which led to a 16-yard field goal by Brett Lauther to make it 14-3 at the start of the second quarter. Article content With Streveler back in the game for Winnipeg, he was looking for a deep ball but was intercepted by Riders' rookie defensive back Eddie Heckard, who brought it back 45 yards to Winnipeg's 21-yard line. Article content Article content However, the Roughriders gave the ball back as running back Mario Anderson fumbled the ball on the very next play before Bombers defensive lineman Phillip Webb returned it 90 yards for the touchdown to make it 21-3 Winnipeg. Article content Article content A few drives later, Saskatchewan was looking to close the gap but Maier was intercepted at Winnipeg's one-yard line by Bombers defensive back Isaiah Avery. Article content Following a punt by the Bombers, Maier bounced back and hit Joe Robustelli for a 48-yard gain before Lauther kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 21-6. Article content On Coan's first series, the second-year pivot engineered a 10-play, 41-yard drive which led to a 53-yard field goal by Lauther to make it 21-9.
National Post
26-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Drae McCray enjoys solid Roughriders pre-season debut
Article content Drae McCray was just excited to play. Now he wants to stay. Article content Article content Making his CFL pre-season debut on Saturday, the 22-year-old American receiver was one of the bright spots for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 15-9 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Article content In his first exhibition game, the former Texas Tech Red Raiders standout served as Saskatchewan's primary returner with six punt returns for 47 yards (7.8-yard average) and three kickoff returns for 110 yards (36.7-yard average) including a game-high 51-yard return in the second quarter. Article content Article content 'It felt good just to be playing football again in general,' McCray said this week as the Roughriders resumed training camp at Mosaic Stadium. 'It just felt good to suit up and go out there and have fun. Article content 'I think there's some things I can work on obviously and get better and go back to the drawing board and learn from, but I was pretty happy with it.' Article content From head coach Corey Mace's perspective, he was also happy with what he saw from the rookie, who was one of the NCAA's top returners in 2023 with Texas Tech. Article content 'He was an explosive returner in college and he was an excellent receiver,' said Mace. 'I think he showed exactly who he can be in the return game in the pre-season game. Article content 'He made quick decisions. He's a north-south kind of guy. And he read the blocks really well. Article content 'He's a kid who's hungry, man. He saw the opportunity for him and I thought he made the best of it.' Article content Since being signed by the Roughriders on May 3 after being recruited by Roughriders player personnel coordinator Larry Dean, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound McCray has had to adjust to the new rules of Canadian football which don't include fair catches. However he's also been able to use the wider field to his advantage. Article content Article content 'I think that was very shocking to me,' said McCray. 'The gaps are a lot bigger. The field is wider. In America, gaps are small. You've got to go really, really fast to get there, or it's going to close very fast.' Article content Article content While last year's primary kick returner Mario Alford dressed for the first pre-season game, he didn't get a chance to return as McCray handled all of the punt returns for the Riders and three of the four kickoff returns, with Daniel Wiebe returning the other late in the fourth quarter.
