Saskatchewan’s secondary wants to break the goose egg

The members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ secondary aren’t picky. They’ll take an interception of any kind.

Saskatchewan’s defensive backs don’t have any interceptions through the CFL team’s first six regular-season games. The Roughriders’ defence has two picks this season, but they were by defensive end Jonathan Newsome (since released) and strong-side linebacker Sam Williams (now on the six-game injured list).

The Roughriders entered Week 8 of the regular season tied for seventh in the league in interceptions with the Ottawa Redblacks. Only the Montreal Alouettes, who went into the week with one interception, had fewer picks.

“It’s definitely very frustrating,” Roughriders defensive backs coach Jason Shivers said Friday. “We’re just trying to focus on the process of how to get them. That’s where I’m keeping my head space.

“I’m telling the guys not to press. I think sometimes as DBs when you don’t have a pick or if you’ve had a couple of balls touch your hands and you drop them, you start to press until you get one. It’s like being in a batting slump. Hopefully we can get out of that this week and get a couple of picks.”

The Roughriders face the B.C. Lions on Sunday. Game time at Mosaic Stadium is 6 p.m.

Newsome recorded his pick in Saskatchewan’s home opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 1, snaring a deflected pass. That was the way Williams made his interception, too; he grabbed a ricochet against the Calgary Stampeders on July 22.

Saskatchewan’s defensive backs, however, have yet to get in on the act.

“We’ve all had our chances, me especially,” admitted cornerback Kacy Rodgers II. “I’ve got my hands on a couple of passes and haven’t come up with them, so I’m kind of a laughingstock in the locker room right now.

“But at the end of the day, we’re all brothers and we’re not pointing any fingers. It’s not frustrating. We just know we have to crank it up a notch.”

Halfback Ed Gainey agreed.

“We want more turnovers, but if we do our jobs, do what we’re supposed to do and be in the right places, they’ll come,” he said. “We’re only as frustrated as we let each other be.

“If we’re not in the right places and we’re just letting people run free, we’re not going to be able to make plays. As long as we make sure we’re doing the right things, those plays will come.”

Shivers noted Saskatchewan has been playing a lot of zone, which he said “changes the whole intersection point of making interceptions.” But the Roughriders have started to play more man in recent games, so that could give the DBs more opportunities to jump routes and break on balls.

Cornerback Jovon Johnson also suggested the CFL’s recent decision to reduce the number of challenges each coach gets in a game could change the Roughriders’ luck.

Instead of two challenges per game (with a third earned if the first two were upheld), coaches now get only one per game. As a result, they’re being much more judicious with their challenge flags than they used to be.

“With the pass-interference rules, it made you hesitant to jump routes and jump in front of guys because any slight touch of a receiver used to be illegal contact and could be a challengeable play,” Johnson said.

“Now that they’ve reduced the challenges to one challenge, it allows us to be more aggressive and do things a lot differently in the secondary.”

The Roughriders nearly had an interception in last Saturday’s 30-15 loss to the Lions in Vancouver, but a spectacular play by receiver Bryan Burnham squelched that opportunity.

With B.C. facing a second-and-14 from its four-yard line late in the third quarter, Travis Lulay threw a pass down the middle that Gainey and safety Erick Dargan appeared to have a bead on.

But Burnham went up and over Dargan to make a circus catch for a 50-yard gain, and a facemasking penalty against Gainey added 15 more yards. Four plays later, Ty Long kicked a 24-yard field goal that gave the Lions a 22-0 lead.

The Roughriders’ interception total reflects that inability to come down with those 50-50 balls.

“We have the perfect guys to get the job done and we’ve been executing pretty well,” Rodgers said. “We have a lot of things to clean up, but we just have to play with more confidence to go get the ball.

“We’re right there in position. We just have to have the confidence to finish the play.”

A knockdown or a second-down tackle that keeps the opponent from getting a first down also would help the Roughriders’ defence get off the field. But an interception could set up the offence in good field position or produce points itself — and that hasn’t happened yet for Saskatchewan.

Johnson preaches patience, suggesting that he has seen defensive backs battle slumps before in his 11 years in the league. In his experience, once the first interception comes, others follow in bunches.

Shivers too believes that the Roughriders’ DBs will break out soon.

“When you drop a couple of passes, then you start to overthink the whole situation — how the ball comes in or how to make a play,” he said. “The biggest thing is getting the guys to stay confident in their technique and their ability to make plays.

“They’ve made plays their whole life. I tell them, ‘You know how to make an interception. Just relax and be aggressive.’ ’’