A.J. Allen added more to the Core Four.
In addition to excelling on all four coverage and return squads on Thursday, the 26-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker volunteered for and received supplementary special teams duty after in-game injuries depleted the roster.
As a result, Allen had more to celebrate than a 30-23 CFL victory over the visiting Toronto Argonauts.
He was presented with the team’s Junkyard Dog chain, which acknowledges an exemplary special teams performer after each game.
And he was given a game ball.
“That’s my first one!” Allen said after Wednesday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium. “That’s something to cherish, for sure.”
That and the chain.
“I get to keep it for a week,” he noted. “I’ll wear it to the grocery store. I’ll wear it home. I’ll wear it everywhere.”
It was a reward for playing everywhere on Thursday.
“I’m already a Core Four guy, but we lost a lot of guys on the field goal team, so I started on the end and I ended (on the interior) where the big boys are at — where the defensive and offensive linemen are at,” the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder said.
“We had so many injuries that we had no D-linemen left. I was out there playing right beside Yoshi (Jermarcus Hardrick) and beside (fellow offensive lineman Trevor) Reid and that’s not usually where guys my size end up at.”
After sizing up the Roughriders’ manpower shortage, Allen approached Special Teams Co-ordinator Kent Maugeri and offered to to assume additional responsibilities.
“I know it can be very stressful for the special teams coach when the depth chart is looking like a bunch of X’s,” Allen said.
“I saw all the injuries going down and I don’t want him looking around and looking around because, at that point, that’s when mess-ups can happen. If you’re down one on field goal and you get a kick blocked, it’s a game-changer.
“So I said to Coach Kent, ‘Whatever you need me to do, wherever you need me, I don’t care if I haven’t practised that a lot. Put me in there. I’ll cover whatever we need.’ ”
Corey Mace was so impressed that he asked Allen to break down the team after Wednesday’s workout.
“Junkyard Dog, man,” the Roughriders’ Head Coach said. “He’s just out there doing the dirty work. Guys who we look to to make plays on special teams kind of get overlooked, but from Day 1 he has been one of the Core Four guys to go out there and make plays.
“We ask a lot of those guys. The mental makeup we want for our team is strictly looking at the special teams, because they do the hard work, and hard work works.
“He’s just one of the leaders from that standpoint on our special teams unit and he puts it out there every week.”
That was evident last season when Allen registered a team-high 19 special teams tackles. But many of his contributions — and those of others — cannot be measured statistically.
They are, however, appreciated internally.
“We always preach, ‘The more you can do …,’ ” Mace said. “To be able to plug and play at different spots, it’s because you have an understanding that your job isn’t necessarily what you’re doing.
“When you’re sitting in Coach Kent’s meetings, you understand what everybody’s doing from the coaching points. (Allen’s) listening to everything.
“The more guys you have on your roster to be able to get you out of certain spots and certain situations or a jam, the better. It makes you feel more comfortable. A.J.’s always going to be a guy that we can lean on for that.”
Even if he has to lean on some opposing 300-pounders from time to time.
“There’s usually two of them,” Allen said with a laugh, “so it could be 600 pounds on me at that point.”
So … did a rival behemoth end up on his heels as the result of a robust block from Allen?
“Something like that!” he replied. “Don’t ask him, though.”
That is the lighthearted line from someone who will do anything that is asked of him.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to play football,” Allen said. “I’m a football player, so wherever I’m needed is where I’ll be, and I’ll be at my best when it’s required. That’s the job.
“At the end of the day, the weight doesn’t matter. Line up. We’re here to play football.”
