Mitchell Blair
The intrigue of playoff football is alive and well on the prairies as the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos prepare to clash in Sunday’s Western Semi-Final with the winner off to Calgary for a trip to the 102nd Grey Cup.
As the two teams get ready to battle one another, it would seem as if both head coaches are playing it very coy when it comes to who the starting quarterback will be. The Eskimos are saying Matt Nichols will get the call, but don’t be surprised to see Mike Reilly while the Riders are still humming and hawing over whether Kerry Joseph will be under center or if Darian Durant will return.
Riders Head Coach Corey Chamblin while keeping his decision secret for a while isn’t buying the fact the Eskimos have already proclaimed a starter.
“I’ve worked with Chris Jones before. I’ve known him a long time,” Chamblin said with a chuckle. “Whatever they put out there, I have to see it to believe it. We’re preparing as though we’ll face both of those quarterbacks. It’s not like you’re going to have a different defence or game plan for them. They’re both good quarterbacks and we just have to line up and make sure we know what we’re doing.
While the Eskimos have said Nichols is their starter, Chamblin is nowhere close to naming his starter, but he says he isn’t trying to play games by not making a decision on Durant who is rehabbing from a torn elbow tendon suffered in mid-September.
“He’s still in that mode where when you’ve been off for a couple of weeks; you’re making sure that you can make all the throws just from rust. He’s going through that process right now.” Chamblin said. “I can’t really tell you that right now. Based off what I’ve seen today, which is so little, I have to really go back and watch film. Thursday will give us a better assessment of exactly where we think he’ll be.”
As for Durant, he knows the call is not in his hands even though he feels he is close to getting back to where he wants to be.
“I feel pretty good,” Durant confessed. “It feels good to be out there and we’ll just keep monitoring it day-by-day. I’ll throw as much as I can and put a good workload on it and then seeing how it responds. It’s big to get out there and get reps and get back in the pocket. Right now, the starter is Kerry and I’m backing that move. Everything is on schedule now and while it hurts not to be in there come playoff time, I know we are in good hands with Kerry.”
Joseph is looking forward to the opportunity if he gets the call saying he has heard nothing from Chamblin as to who will be under center. What he will say though is that now that playoffs are here, the approach changes because the stakes are higher.
“You have to make sure your I’s are dotted and your T’s are crossed,” Joseph explained. You have to be mentally and physically focused, and get ready to go. There’s no tomorrow in this one. You don’t get any do-overs when it comes to playoffs, so you have to be emotionally and physically ready to go. This could very well be my last shot at it. I think we just have a great opportunity ahead of us and that drive is really just driving me right now — not to try to prove anything to anyone, but just to be a champion again.’’
Whether it’s Durant or Joseph, Chamblin knows he will throw someone out there who has led the Green and White to a championship which at this time of year is the only thing that matters.
