Nearly one year ago, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Mace walked into his end of season media availability holding the Grey Cup, plopping it down beside him on the table before speaking. The mood in 2026 was a stark contrast with the coach walking into the media room empty handed after his season ended in the West semi-final at the hands of the B.C. Lions. “It’s a lot different,” Mace told reporters Sunday. “It’s unfortunate; you have such high expectations. I shared with the team [Saturday] in the locker room and sometimes I can talk, but I don’t know what to say in those moments because you don’t let your brain go there – you don’t plan for anything like that.” “Same thing here: it sucks. It always sucks,” he added. That sentiment resonating throughout the team. Quarterback Trevor Harris left wishing he was watching film in preparation for the West final – instead of leaving the facility one more time this year. “It’s a lot of the same emotions because like I wasn’t ready for last year to be over; we should be watching Edmonton,” he noted. “I’m thinking about two or three plays I really, really want back from that game, I feel, could have made a difference.” As players cleared out their lockers Sunday, many said this day is the worst day of the season. This one hurt more knowing they came up short of their own expectations to repeat as champions. “It’s deep in the gut and it just hurts because I know we had the opportunity to do it,” defensive back Tevaughn Campbell said. “We had the chance, we had the team and the guys to do it. But it’s just starting new; you have to start fresh to win back-to-back. You’ve got to win one and then expect to win another one. It is harder when you expected coming into the preseason you were going to do that.” The high of winning last season in now way outweighing the pain felt this year. “I hate losing more than I love winning,” linebacker Jameer Thurman said. “This hurts. It’s just a lot right now.” “Last year, we had a really good team,” added Marcus Sayles. “Granted, you could say we lost some guys [this year] – we lost Rolan [Milligan Jr.], we had other guys that went down where you don’t really have that camaraderie over an 18-game season.” Mace reminded them only one team gets to hoist the championship each year. For the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2026, they look ahead to 2027. “Unfortunately, people in this profession will feel like this more than they feel like we did last year,” Coach Mace said. “That’s just what the numbers will tell you. But I think we’re all crazy enough to think every year is our year. And I truly believe that, our guys truly believe that, which is why it sucks.” Weighed down It is no secret the 2026 Saskatchewan Roughriders went through some dark times – on and off the field. On July 18, a vehicle driven by special teams captain Jayden Dalke was travelling the wrong direction on a divided highway north of Regina when it collided with another SUV – killing both Dalke and Bhishma Rajyaguru from Regina. Harris admitted the tragedy had an impact on the team and left a hole on the season. “At first, it was kind of like fresh and like ‘It’s okay, it’s not real,” he described. “As the season kind of lagged, because we do miss Jayden – he’s a brother to us – but mentally, emotionally, it’s been a lot this season in terms of the things this team went through: injuries, tragedies off field, the ebbs and flows of the season .” “It’s something I’ve never really went through and I’m sure I’m not the only one on the team who hasn’t gone through anything like that,” Tommy Stevens said. “It’s tough and you just had to move on so fast – we played however many days later. This group, this room, the whole organization is pretty tight. Whenever you lose somebody in the middle of the season, it’s very, very tough on the group.” Mace described the year as ‘unique’ given everything the team dealt with but says Dalke’s death brought the team closer together. “But because of the job we have, I’m not certain everybody got to handle it the way maybe the way most people would be able to handle it,” he added. “I’m looking forward to people just kind of having that opportunity to take the time needed to address something like that. Whatever anybody needed in the moment, and for the remainder of the season, everybody was there for each other. But, we obviously think about [Jayden] a lot.” Injury-plagued season Piled atop the tragedy, injuries plagued the Roughriders all year. In total, Saskatchewan lost 217 man games due to injuries – the third most of all CFL teams. That included former Most Outstanding Defensive Player Rolan Milligan Jr., who tore his ACL in practice – requiring a necessary surgery which kept him on the sideline the remainder of the year. “I didn’t think it was what it was,” Milligan told reporters Sunday in his first media availability since the injury. “After an MRI confirmed it, it was just kind of a weird feeling to be honest; I wasn’t really down about it, it was mostly just a shock.” Milligan now enters the offseason as a pending free agent. He admitted Sunday the timeline of his rehab could cause him to miss training camp next season – a training camp which is two weeks earlier with the CFL schedule pushed up. The lockdown safety also wanted to stay in Saskatchewan. “I don’t want to go nowhere else,” Milligan said. “I’ve expressed it to everybody in the building, so, we’ll see what happens … [I’m] really trying to just get back and healthy more than anything. I still have a lot of ball left in me; everybody around the league knows that.” Futures in question Injuries are also bringing into question the futures of other players. Having broken his arm in 2026, Campbell says back-to-back seasons with broken bones could play a factor in whether he decides to play next year. “I’ve got to talk about it, I’m undecided right now,” he said. “We’ll make that decision in the offseason. Being my age in the league, it weighs heavy on me.” Other question marks for veterans like Trevor Harris, Jermarcus Hardrick, A.J. Ouellette and others also remain. Harris says he will take a few weeks to make his decision. “Like I said last year, I won’t come back unless I know I can be a tier one quarterback,” he said Sunday. “That’ll be the same thing as well, along with the decision process I go through. If I can’t be an elite, tier one quarterback, I won’t come back and play next year.” Hardrick says his family believes he still has more football remaining in his career. The 15-year CFL veteran’s contract is coming to an end this year. “They told me what we were doing, they still want to watch ball,” the big man said. “They still want to come a lot of room and still want me to play. The first text I got from my wife, ‘Proud of you, you still got more in you.’ That’s what we are. I thought I was being selfish and hearing that changed my whole mood.” Mace says he ensures he is a part of some conversations with players about their futures – whether contract-related, them needing to move on to other teams or past football. “It’s just open line of communication,” he said. “Part of the reason why we try to push to having these relationships is so you can have those conversations. At this point, you can’t; you don’t know the answer to be it if it’s the player or us as an organization, things take time to play out.” Roughriders’ general manager Jeremy O’Day is expected to hold his year-end media availability following the Grey Cup in two weeks.
