Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive tackle Eddie Steele is in his element(s).
The snowy, chilly conditions during the Roughriders’ walkthrough Friday are expected to continue into Saturday, when the CFL team is to face the Edmonton Eskimos at Mosaic Stadium (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
That’s fine by Steele.
“This is a Manitoba summer to me,” the 29-year-old Winnipeg product said with a grin. “This is nothing. I’m good in the snow.”
According to Environment Canada, Regina is to receive five to 10 centimetres of snow Friday night and up to four centimetres more during the day Saturday. The high during the day Saturday is expected to be -7 C, with a low Saturday night of -10 C.
“You’ve just got to block that kind of stuff out,” Roughriders quarterback Kevin Glenn said of the conditions. “The weather’s going to be the weather and you can’t change it, so you’ve got to block it out and just play.”
The turf at Mosaic Stadium has been cleaned off over the past two days and plans are to continue plowing the playing surface as the snow falls. Even so, the players will have to choose their footwear wisely to avoid slipping on the turf during the game.
They’ll also have to concentrate on holding onto footballs that tend to get slick when they get cold. Coaches, meanwhile, may have to go with conservative play calls to avoid trying things that may not work in bad weather.
On Friday, Glenn was asked if he prefers the snow or the cold.
“I would probably have to say the snow because I think technically if it snows, it’s warmer,” he replied. “But I would definitely X out wind in any of those situations.”
Linebacker Taylor Mays is to make his CFL debut with the Roughriders — and he gets to do it in the worst weather of the season to date.
“The worse the conditions, sometimes the better focus that you have,” he said. “You’re able to have tunnel vision.”
Mays played at the University of Southern California, so he didn’t see a lot of blizzards during his college career. However, he spent four of his six NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, who occasionally play in snowy weather.
“If you’ve never played in cold weather and you come to cold weather, it’s definitely a shock,” Mays said. “But when the ball is snapped, as a professional, you have a job to do so you do it — whether it’s 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) or not.”
•••
Mays is to play his first pro football game since Jan. 3, 2016, when he and the Oakland Raiders lost 23-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It seems like it has gone somewhat fast,” the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder said of the gap between games. “I’ve been waiting for a long time to get a chance to play again and this is it, so I’m excited about the opportunity.”
Mays was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round (49th overall) of the 2010 NFL draft. He played 16 games with the 49ers as a rookie, but was traded to Cincinnati in August of 2011.
He played 50 games over the next four seasons with the Bengals and 16 with the Raiders in 2015. He re-signed with Cincinnati in March of 2016 but subsequently was released after being suspended by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy.
He signed with the Roughriders on Oct. 9 of this year, eager to get his career back on track.
“I’ve been at the point where I feel like whatever you do, good or bad, you’re still going to have positive reviews and negative reviews,” Mays said. “I just kind of play for myself and my teammates. I know if I do that, everything else will take care of itself.
“This is an opportunity (to get his name out there), but it’s on a basic level. It is a chance to kind of restart — I got suspended and then there was a long gap — but I’m just treating it like I got hurt and this is the next step.”
•••
Glenn is slated to start Saturday’s game, but that doesn’t mean he’ll finish it.
The veteran has been pulled in three of the past four games and four of the past six. Still, Glenn hasn’t changed the way he prepares even though he knows Brandon Bridge is waiting in the wings.
“I’ve always approached the game, even when I wasn’t the starter, as if I was going to play,” Glenn said. “That’s how you have to approach the game at this position because you never know what’s going to happen.
“You always approach the game as if you’re going to play — and you’re going to play the whole game whether you’re the first, second or third guy. At any given moment, you could go into the game and you have to put your team in a good position to be successful.”
•••
Glenn got the win Aug. 25 when the Roughriders beat the host Eskimos 54-31.
He threw two touchdown passes and Bridge added one for Saskatchewan, which got a rushing TD from third-string quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., interception returns for TDs by Jovon Johnson and Kacy Rodgers II, and a blocked punt for a TD from Willie Jefferson.
Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly had a long night, going 15-for-26 for 160 yards before being replaced by James Franklin.
But the Roughriders aren’t hanging their hats on the outcome of that contest.
“Last time, it was an anomaly,” head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “It was one of those games kind of like our B.C. game (a 30-15 loss in Vancouver on Aug. 5) where we didn’t do a whole lot right in that game.
“Mike made some mistakes that he wouldn’t normally make and we were fortunate enough to capitalize on those.”
