Saskatchewan Roughriders' head coach Corey Mace has a rough idea how much he'll play his quarterbacks in the team's final preseason game.
"We have a plan, but sometimes, the feel kind of interrupts that. We do have a plan. We want to get a good look at these guys," Mace said. "Certainly, they all got a little piece last week. Now, it's a little heavier load on a couple of them. We want to do our due diligence."
Trevor Harris started started the Riders first preseason game in Winnipeg while Jake Maier, Jack Coan and Tommy Stevens were given playing time. Mace and his coaching staff decided to rest Harris along with a number of veteran players for Saskatchewan's final preseason game despite it being at Mosaic Stadium. That's due to the quick turnaround with the Roughriders kicking off the regular season on Thursday, June 5.
"That was something we had looked at going into camp. I understand the sentiment, you want to have all your guys playing for home games, but for us we want to make sure that we're healthy going into Week 1," Mace said.
"We are in a quick turnaround after this preseason game, getting ready for the Thursday game after that. In saying that, we're still trying to formulate the back end of the roster and there is an unbelievable amount of reps for guys to make those tough decisions for us."
Starting at QB for the Riders in the team's second preseason game will be Jake Maier and Mace reflected on what he means to the team.
"It reminds me of when he first got his start back in Calgary. First coming in, there are balls flying around, everybody's sitting there like: 'Oh, who is that?' Certainly, I can't speak to what it's been like for him the previous couple of years, but he's happy as ever to be in the building every day," Mace said.
"He's competing his tail off, he's making it hard for the defence and when he's in the huddle, he commands it. I think that's been really good for him, I think it's been good for us and for the competition sake as well."
Mace is eager to see how his new players will react to playing at Mosaic Stadium with Rider Nation fans in attendance for the first time.
"I'm super excited for these guys to get that feeling, walking down the tunnel and waiting for the crowd to bring them out," Mace explained.
"It's a special moment for everybody that gets to do that. Really excited for those guys that are able to play to get that accomplished, for them to have that moment because they've earned it. It is really cool and I am really happy that we finally get back to playing home football here in Saskatchewan.
The Green and White's final preseason game goes Friday against the Blue Bombers. Catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 4 p.m. while Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the call at 7 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
