The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offence will be Fine with Mason behind centre.
Yes, it is a blow to lose the starting quarterback to injury — as was the case on Saturday when Trevor Harris suffered a tibial plateau fracture of his right knee during the fourth quarter of a CFL game against the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium.
The sad sight of Harris being taken from the field on a cart was a gut-punch to the Roughriders and, well, anyone who could bear to watch.
But football, as much as we love it, is an unforgiving sport.
“Next man up” has long been part of the lexicon in gridiron circles.
As Harris has been heard to say: “It’s a cliché because it’s true.”
The painful truth for the Roughriders is that they will be without their marquee player for most of the games that remain in 2023 — including, of course, Saturday’s appointment with the B.C. Lions in Vancouver.
The team is not ruling out a late-season return by Harris but, for the foreseeable future, the next man up will be front and centre.
Over to you, Mason Fine.
“You understand the situation of your franchise quarterback going down, but you’ve been training all your life to be a football player,” he said on Saturday after the Stampeders won 33-31.
“This is my third year now (in the CFL). It sucks what happened, but I’ve got teammates relying on me to come in there and execute the offence to the best of my ability. That’s my full mindset going into this week and in the future.”
That was also his mentality with just under nine minutes remaining in Saturday’s game. Duty called, unexpectedly, and he was thrust into action with precious little time in which to warm up.
The Stampeders soon assumed a 27-17 lead, only to surrender back-to-back touchdown passes by Fine in just over two minutes.
The latter score, a 69-yard connection with Tevin Jones with 42 seconds left, was followed by a Brett Lauther convert that put Saskatchewan ahead 31-30.
Calgary proceeded to drive for a game-winning field goal — a 50-yarder by Rene Paredes as time expired.
If not for that kick, Fine would have been celebrated as a key contributor to one of the most miraculous victories in Roughriders history.
Staring at a third-and-24 predicament and extreme odds, Fine looked deep for Jones down the left sideline.
Three defenders were in the area, including Jonathan Moxey. The veteran Stampeders defensive back attempted to intercept the pass, only to tip the ball into the receptive hands of Jones.
After Moxey collided with teammate Tre Roberson, Jones put a move on Branden Dozier and trotted the remaining 16 yards into the end zone.
That play ultimately closed the books on Fine for the day. He finished with six completions in eight attempts for 116 yards, along with a 24-yard scramble. The quarterback-efficiency rating: A stratospheric 156.3.
When Fine previously appeared before an audience at Mosaic Stadium, he threw back-to-back fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Mitch Picton to give Saskatchewan a 30-27 pre-season victory over the B.C. Lions on May 27.
Upon entering that game, Fine threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Ryder Varga.
Instead of being consumed and derailed by a disastrous pass, Fine completed eight of his final nine throws for 110 yards.
The former University of North Texas Mean Green standout ended up winning a No. 2 quarterback derby that, for much of training camp and the pre-season, appeared to be too close to call.
The Roughriders’ brass was so impressed with the three prospective understudies — Fine, Jake Dolegala and Shea Patterson — that the list of final cuts did not include a quarterback.
Fine emerged as the coaches’ choice to be next in line, behind Harris, and the wisdom of that decision was underlined on Saturday when the Roughriders nearly registered the kind of victory that would have been talked about for ages.
Another pet phrase of Harris comes to mind. Asked last week about rookie receiver Kendall Watson, Harris said: “He’s just one of those guys who the moment is never going to be too big for.”
Those words would also be a very apt description of Fine, whose attributes were on display during and after the fourth quarter on Saturday.
Post-game protocol calls for the Roughriders’ quarterback of record to speak with reporters in the media room. That was something Fine had not envisioned doing on Sunday until everything changed, so suddenly and sadly, in the fourth quarter.
Yet, Fine handled the after-game grilling with the same poise and professionalism that Harris demonstrates, without exception.
Thrown into an adverse, emotional situation, the 26-year-old Fine said (and did) all the right things.
He began the media conference by offering prayers to Harris and his family.
After inviting questions, Fine handled the inquiries like someone who has thrown far more than 119 passes since entering the CFL.
“At first, I’m a person watching another person get injured,” Fine said. “I was sick to my stomach at first. You hate to see it happen, especially to a person like Trevor — a great person and a great teammate.
“But this is professional football, and my job is to be ready and to be professional. Obviously, I went over there and wished him the best, and I keep him in my prayers.
“But also, you’ve got to flip the switch and say, ‘Hey, it’s game time. I’ve got a job to do.’ You try to do that to the best of your ability.”
At the same time, Fine understands the importance of doing that job, period, as one component — albeit an important and high-profile one — of the offence.
“There’s 12 guys out there on the football field,” Fine said. “It’s a team. There’s a full locker room. We’ve got coaches. We’ve got fans.
“It’s not just on me. I can’t put that pressure on me. It’s not fair to myself. But I do have to put the pressure on myself to do my job to the best of my ability and control what I can control.
“There’s a lot of X factors when it comes to football and there’s a lot of things that happen that aren’t in my control.
“What I will do, and what I will promise to my teammates, is that I’ll control what I can control and hopefully be the best quarterback I can be for this team.”
