Picton’s professionalism, patience, preparedness produce picture-perfect passing plays
Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Mitch Picton made the remarkable look routine on Friday.
Two of his five catches against the victorious Winnipeg Blue Bombers were highlight-reel material.
He produced the game’s longest reception — a 30-yarder — while making a contested catch of a Jack Coan aerial in the fourth quarter at Princess Auto Stadium.
That grab, as impressive as it was, wasn’t necessarily Picton’s best of the night.
In the second quarter, he made a diving grab of a Jake Maier pass for a 20-yard advance. The 30-year-old University of Regina Rams grad somehow kept both feet in bounds while stretching for the football.
“Our offence was kind of trying to find our rhythm in the first half, so in the second (quarter) it was good to be able to get in a bit of a rhythm with Jake and move the ball a little bit,” Picton said after Tuesday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium.
The 20-yard gain concluded a three-catches-in-three-plays sequence by Picton, who finished the game with 71 receiving yards.
His fourth catch, the aforementioned 30-yarder, unfolded after he and Bombers defensive back Jamal Parker jumped for the football.
“Actually, I kind of lost it in the lights for a little bit when I saw Jack release it,” Picton said. “Jack put the ball up and gave me a chance. We’re paid to go catch the ball, so that’s what we’re there to do.”
Parker and Picton both had their hands on the football while leaping for the pass and falling to the turf.
“I think he was trying to rip it out of my hands,” Picton said. “I went up and made a play on the ball and felt like I had it.”
It was that kind of night for Picton, who had not registered a reception in any of the previous seven games for which he had dressed.
He hit the stats sheet for the first time since July 12, when he caught seven passes for 41 yards against the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
Throughout a span of three-plus months, Picton’s approach to the game and team-oriented approach never wavered.
“That’s just part of being a professional football player and being a pro in your job and in your craft,” the seventh-year Roughrider said. “You never know when your number is going to get called in pro sports. It doesn’t always go your way, but you’ve always got to be ready and prepare each week like you’re the starter.”
That level of preparedness earned plaudits from the Roughriders’ Head Coach.
“Mr. Reliable,” Corey Mace said. “Mitch is one of those guys who can play any spot in the receiving corps, just with his understanding of the game.
“You can always count on Mitch to get it done.”
Picton, 30, has 18 catches for 208 yards heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
In 63 games as a Roughrider, the Regina-born Picton has 94 catches for 1,063 yards and six touchdowns.
NUMBERS GAME
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris is not big on statistics, but one number to which he does attach importance can be found under Games Played.
Harris has dressed for 16 games as a member of the 12-5 Roughriders, who have clinched first place in the CFL’s overall standings and hosting privileges for the Western Final (Nov. 8, 5:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
With top spot a certainty, Harris dressed for Friday’s game but watched from the sideline as Maier and Coan operated the offence.
“Being available for all 18 (games) was always the mindset,” said Harris, who started 15 of the Roughriders’ first 16 games before being rested in Winnipeg.
“Unfortunately, I got dinged in the head earlier this year and missed one. I feel like I still could have played then. It still kind of eats at me, but it is what it is. Our job as professionals is to be available and to give your team hope.
“We’re in a good spot right now. Jake has got a couple of good games under his belt. Obviously, I feel good about where we are as an offence.
“Playing our best football is our aim at this point, so let’s just make sure we have a great week of practice and execute on game day.”
Harris sports a league-best 11 victories as a starter this season, having thrown for 4,437 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He put up 3,264 yards and 20 TDs in 11 starts last season en route to being a divisional All-CFL selection. He missed six games after suffering a knee injury and sat out a seventh contest because the result did not have a bearing on the standings.
The year before, Harris suffered a season-ending leg injury in the Roughriders’ fifth game.
Hence the emphasis on Games Played — and the discomfort induced by any time spent on the sideline, regardless of the circumstances.
“It stinks,” he said with a laugh. “It takes me back to 2014, 2016 — times when I hadn’t been playing — and it’s not too fun.
“At the same time, there’s always something to learn. There’s always a lesson to learn. So if you close your eyes and think, ‘I can’t wait until this week’s over with,’ you might miss the lesson that God’s trying to show you or a lesson that the game of football can teach you that week.
“I had my eyes open and my ears open and I was making sure that I was ready for whatever came and for what I could learn from last week.”
INJURY UPDATE
Safety Nelson Lokombo, who has missed seven games with an ankle injury, was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice.
Linebacker Melique Straker (illness) and defensive back Jaxon Ford (knee) were also full participants.
Four players were listed as “limited” on Tuesday’s injury report: Defensive lineman Malik Carney (shoulder), offensive lineman Zack Fry (knee), kicker Brett Lauther (back) and linebacker Jameer Thurman (back).
The following players did not practise: Defensive backs DaMarcus Fields (arm), Rolan Milligan Jr. (foot/knee) and Marcus Sayles (ankle), receivers KeeSean Johnson (knee), Dohnte Meyers (ankle) and Joe Robustelli (knee), defensive lineman Shane Ray (neck), quarterback Tommy Stevens (knee), linebacker Nick Wiebe (back) and running back Mario Anderson Jr. (knee).
Asked specifically about whether Johnson, Meyers, Stevens and Milligan Jr. would be available to play in the Western Final, Mace replied: “They’re all on track to do that, which is great.”
EXTRA POINTS
• The Roughriders announced the signing of receiver Siaosi Mariner on Tuesday. Mariner, 28, has previous CFL experience with the Ottawa REDBLACKS (2022-23). In 10 games with the UFL’s Michigan Panthers earlier this year, he registered a league-best 527 receiving yards on 31 catches. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is the 346th Californian in Roughriders history, but the first to hail from the city of Tustin. Overall, he is the 4,757th documented Roughriders player, dating back to the team’s inception as the Regina Rugby Club in 1910.
• Fields was the CFL’s top-rated defensive back for Week 20, according to Pro Football Focus. He had a player grade of 79.8. On Friday in Winnipeg, Fields registered his second interception of the season. Both picks were made at Princess Auto Stadium.
