Dariusz Bladek is trying to live up to some lofty expectations in his first season with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Those expectations would be his.
“I always strive for the best,” the rookie offensive lineman said Friday at Mosaic Stadium after the Roughriders continued their preparations for Sunday’s Labour Day Classic against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“It’s a blessing but a burden when it comes to being a perfectionist and wanting to be perfect at everything. At times, I have guys telling me, ‘Bladek, it’s one play. That’s what practice is for.’ In the earlier weeks, it was, ‘Oh, you’re a rookie.’ But I’ll never accept that for myself.
“Sometimes that stresses me out a bit, but it makes me a better player.”
Bladek, 23, was selected by Saskatchewan in the second round (11th overall) of the 2017 CFL draft out of Bethune-Cookman University.
The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder cracked the Roughriders’ roster coming out of training camp, winning the job as the team’s sixth offensive lineman and part-time tight end. Injuries and personnel groupings have given Bladek a chance to play in his first season — and he hasn’t disappointed.
“He’s doing well,” centre Brendon LaBatte said. “He’s committed; you can see it every day. He comes in and he’s got a real passion to get better and learn the game.
“For a young guy, there are a lot of things you see when you first become a pro athlete that can almost be a bit of a distraction. But I think he has done a really nice job coming in focused every day — and I think that’s why he’s in the position he is, being on the field and dressing.”
Bladek credits the Roughriders’ veteran O-linemen with making him feel comfortable, not only on the field but off of it. Their expressions of concern for him when he suffered what turned out to be a minor injury during Saskatchewan’s 54-31 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos on Aug. 25 drove home for Bladek that he was part of a family.
The veterans’ advice has been important for him, too.
“I’m constantly talking to them, asking them for little tips,” Bladek said. “My progression has been good. I don’t think there’s really anything I’m uncomfortable with or don’t understand.
“As long as I continue to grow, that’s my main goal right now. I just want to be ready for whenever my number is called.”
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LaBatte is preparing for his third start as the Roughriders’ centre in place of the injured Dan Clark.
LaBatte faced a steep learning curve moving from left guard to centre, but he has handled it with aplomb.
“It has been a good adjustment for me,” he said. “Probably the thing I’m enjoying most about it is it’s such a different look and such a different feel that it’s really pushing my boundaries for comfort as an O-lineman.
“It has put me in some situations that have been a little uncomfortable and, looking back at it and learning a few things, it has made me a better player.”
As the centre, LaBatte is responsible for making the calls for the line. That has resulted in more mental preparation than he had to do at guard since his fellow linemen — not to mention quarterback Kevin Glenn — are counting on him to be right.
“It has put a lot more pressure on me in terms of making sure that I know my stuff to not let the group down and put them in a bad situation,” LaBatte said.
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The Roughriders haven’t set their roster for Sunday’s contest, but head coach-GM Chris Jones made one player move official Friday.
“Chad Owens won’t be playing,” Jones said of the veteran receiver-returner. “He’s on the six-game (injured list), so he won’t be playing — and that’s the last comment we’ll make until he gets in a situation where he will play.”
Owens has been hampered by a foot injury that he suffered during the 2016 season, when he played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent in February.
Owens didn’t participate much in training camp and opened the regular season on the six-game injured list. He was on the one-game injured list for the Roughriders’ game Aug. 25 in Edmonton.
When returner Christion Jones suffered a shoulder injury in Edmonton, it was speculated that Owens would be among the candidates to replace him for the Labour Day Classic. That apparently won’t be happening.
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Former Roughriders linebacker Otha Foster III was released by the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens on Friday.
Foster, who was Saskatchewan’s nominee for the award as the CFL’s most outstanding defensive player in 2016, signed a free-agent pact with Baltimore after that season. Now that he has been released by the Ravens, Foster is free to sign with any team in the CFL or the NFL.
Foster played for Chris Jones in Edmonton before both men joined the Roughriders, so a reunion isn’t out of the question.
“Otha’s one of my guys, so I’m sure that he’ll call me and reach out to me and let me know what his status is,” Jones said. “But we’ve got a football game to play (Sunday) and some very important three games in 13 days, so all that stuff will handle itself.”
