Kelly Jeffrey is ready to tackle the second half of his first season as a CFL Offensive Co-ordinator.
How would he appraise his performance over the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first nine games of the 2023 campaign?
“OK,” he responded. “We’ve got to get better.
“I think there’s some things we can do, play-calling-wise, that we can get better with — committing to the run a little bit more and being better in short-yardage, obviously.
“We’ve had some continuity issues with the revolving door at offensive line and receiver and quarterback.
“Before the season, I thought we’d be rolling around six games in. I did not account for having some quarterback issues with injuries and some O-line issues. I kind of felt that set us back, set me back, a little bit as far as getting a feel for these guys.
“I feel back on track now. I feel good about the game plan this week and I feel good about the opportunity at home.”
It helps that the team is getting healthier — this week’s injury list is much shorter than usual — heading into Sunday’s game against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
Through nine games, three quarterbacks — Trevor Harris, Mason Fine and Jake Dolegala — have received significant playing time for the Green and White.
With Harris and Fine sidelined by injuries, Dolegala is expected to start on Sunday.
In front of the quarterbacks, the offensive line has been in flux for much of the season.
Eight different players have received starting assignments as part of the five-man unit. Four of them — Brandon Council, Jerald Hawkins, Eric Lofton and Logan Ferland — have handled reps at the all-important left tackle position.
Colin Kelly, Peter Godber, Logan Bandy and Evan Johnson round out the octet of offensive linemen who have started this season.
That number doesn’t even incorporate injuries to Jordan Tucker (who was hurt on Day 2 of training camp) and Philip Blake (who suffered a torn pectoral muscle in the pre-season finale).
The receiving corps has also been ravaged.
To this point, Shawn Bane Jr., Tevin Jones, Samuel Emilus, Jake Wieneke, Jerreth Sterns, Mitch Picton, Derel Walker, Juwan Brescacin, Kendall Watson and Brayden Lenius have seen starting duty at one of the five front-line spots.
Consider, too, that an 11th receiver (Kian Schaffer-Baker) will soon be infused into the starting lineup. He has resumed practising after undergoing hip surgery during the off-season.
“It’s really exciting,’’ Jeffrey said when asked about Schaffer-Baker practising with the first-team offence. “We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. It feels like Christmas Eve.”
There is a reasonable chance that Schaffer-Baker will play on Sunday, but a final decision will be made as the weekend draws closer.
“He had a decent day today,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said on Thursday. “I thought he was better yesterday, so we’ll look at the film and see if he stepped back today or see if he stepped forward.”
DICKENSON DISPLEASED
Dickenson did not hide his disappointment with Thursday’s practice.
“I didn’t think it was great,” he said, “and maybe that’s just me.
“I think we can do better and that was the message at the end. We want to demand perfection from the players and I challenged the players to demand the same thing from the coaches.
“We’ve got to coach them hard. We’ve got to try to be as good as we can possibly be. I used the term ‘we can’t be OK with just being OK.’ We’ve got to push.”
Why, Dickenson was asked, did Thursday’s sluggish session unfold as it did?
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe it’s the heat. It seemed like we were slow getting from drill to drill. I’ve got to do a better job of getting them moving.
“The heat did get us a little bit today, but who knows? Maybe the tape shows us something different, but I felt like we wasted some time today, and we don’t have any time to waste.”
