If history is any indication, Ed Gainey’s time has come.
In 2017, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back didn’t have an interception through his team’s first six games of the CFL regular season. In the Roughriders’ seventh game, Gainey set a single-game franchise record with four picks against the B.C. Lions.
Fast forward to 2018, when Gainey didn’t have an interception through the Roughriders’ first six games of the regular season. Saskatchewan plays its seventh game of the campaign Thursday against the host Edmonton Eskimos (8 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
So … is Gainey due for another eruption of interceptions?
“I’m overdue,” he said after Tuesday’s closed practice at Mosaic Stadium. “It’s the same as last year. I’ve had a few opportunities to get some. I dropped one. I’ve been on the unlucky end of some batted-down passes. I was in position, breaking downhill on the ball, and it got knocked down.
“But (interceptions) will come rolling in. Once one comes, they’ll start coming in bunches.”
That’s certainly how things went in 2017.
Saskatchewan’s defence had two interceptions through its first six games last season, and the picks had been recorded by a defensive end and a linebacker; the defensive backs didn’t have any thefts.
Gainey single-handedly changed that with his four-interception game against the Lions. He finished the season with a league-high 10 picks and Saskatchewan rallied to finish third among CFL defences with 19 interceptions.
So far this season, the Roughriders are tied for fifth in the league with five picks. But two of them belong to a receiver-turned-defensive end who occasionally drops to safety (Tobi Antigha), one was made by a receiver-turned-cornerback (Duron Carter), one belongs to a quarterback-turned-cornerback (Nick Marshall) and one was made by a true corner (Jovon Johnson).
The other starters have been shut out so far.
“It’s really not frustrating, to be honest,” halfback Crezdon Butler said. “We’re doing our job as a defensive unit.
“Picks will come. It’s early in the season. We’ve got a lot more games left. We’re playing some good quarterbacks who trust in their arms and that’s when the picks happen.”
Butler appeared to have made his first career interception during the third quarter of Saturday’s 34-22 loss to the visiting Calgary Stampeders, snaring a pass from quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
But an illegal-contact penalty on Johnson wiped out Butler’s pick and, one play later, Mitchell found DaVaris Daniels with a 15-yard touchdown pass. After Rene Paredes added the convert, what had been a five-point Calgary lead had grown to 12, at 31-19.
On Thursday, the Roughriders will face a potent Edmonton passing attack led by quarterback Mike Reilly. The veteran pivot leads the CFL with 2,063 passing yards and 13 touchdown throws, but he also is tied for the league lead with six interceptions.
The Eskimos will try to throw the ball against Saskatchewan — Edmonton is third in the league with 214 pass attempts and first with 147 completions — so the Roughriders’ defensive backs should have ample opportunities for picks.
“We’ve just got to keep working,” said safety Mike Edem. “It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s something you’ve got to keep working on and, once you pop that first one, they come in bunches.
“We’ve got to be patient. You’ve got to come to work every day and work on your technique so you’re one step closer when the ball comes and make sure your hands are ready when the ball comes to pick it off.
“The biggest thing you don’t want to do is start pressing and start chasing ghosts. When the ball picks you, you’ve got to make the play.”
The Roughriders enter Week 8 with the league’s stingiest run defence (71.7 yards per game), but they rank fifth in passing yards allowed (256.5 per game) and completion percentage against (64.3) and tied for fifth in passing touchdowns surrendered (seven).
“I think we’ve done well, other than the pick situation,” Butler said. “We’ve held some good quarterbacks under their average (for passing yards in a game). I can’t be any prouder of the guys I’ve got back there with me.”
“Our DBs are good players,” added head coach-GM Chris Jones. “A lot of our guys are carryovers from last year, so if we didn’t feel strongly about them, they wouldn’t have made it out of camp.”
Before training camp began, Gainey said he wanted to outdo his interception total from last season in 2018. On Tuesday, he noted he had tempered his expectations — but he still wants to lead the CFL in picks. The current league leader, Kevin Fogg of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, has three.
“My goal was to break the record (of 15 in a season), but due to the slow start, that’s going to be pretty hard,” said Gainey, who admitted to some frustration with his play — but it all stemmed from the 41-yard TD reception he gave up to Calgary’s Marken Michel on Saturday.
“We’ll have to see how it goes. I’m going to keep playing within the scheme of the defence and being where I’m supposed to be. Hopefully balls start coming my way a little bit more and I can get my hands on a couple.”
