The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive coordinator was quite blunt in his responses about what he saw from an Edmonton Elks offense which put up over 500 yards of total offense against his team last week. “I saw the Elks was 100 per cent of what we expected … that’s it, that’s it," Josh Bell said thoughtfully. Edmonton, led by quarterback Cody Fajardo, took full advantage of multiple defensive miscues and breakdowns in Thursday’s 36-34 victory over Saskatchewan at Mosaic Stadium. The former Roughrider pivot put up a career day, 510 yards through the air, four touchdowns and five completions of 30-plus yards. His performance highlighted by a game-winning drive beginning on the Elks’ eight-yard-line and included two third-down conversions – completions of 16 yards and 23 yards, respectively – leading to a last second walk-off field goal by Vincent Blanchard. In Saskatchewan’s first five games of the season, the defense had surrendered just six completions of 30 yards or more. “It looks bad when you look at the stats and it says he throws 500 yards,” defensive back Marcus Sayles told reporters Tuesday. “But for the majority of the game, I feel like we played well. We just had a couple busts – that’s just unlike us.” “Being able to just correct your mistakes, really,” said Rolan Milligan Jr. after the loss Thursday night. “We’ve got an extended week, so we’re going to see some wrinkles, but they’re going to do what they do, and we’ll do what we do.” The cause for the offensive explosion: miscommunication throughout the secondary. “We all have to see the same thing,” explained Sayles. “When one person doesn’t see the same thing, it can mess up the who defense. It’s the little things we have to clean up.” The defense now trying to hone in that communication to ensure the same breakdowns do not reappear this week. “It doesn’t matter who you play, if we have a lack of communication, bad things happen,” head coach Corey Mace said. “[We’re] looking inward as a team, and certainly, things we can focus on.” Despite the large offensive output from their opponents last week, Saskatchewan remains near the top of the league in most defensive categories, except turnovers. Now the defense is relishing the rare opportunity to play Edmonton again Saturday. “They did what they were supposed to do,” said Bell. “They came in and chopped the head off - at home. We get to go on the road and return the favour, and we’d like to go and do it emphatically.” Ouellette ‘week-to-week’ As the Riders returned to practice Tuesday for the first time since last week’s loss, the most glaring omission from team activities was running back A.J. Ouellette. The tailback sustained a right-leg injury on a rush Thursday. While he stayed on the turf for a few minutes, Ouellette walked off the field under his own power. After being checked by team medical staff on the sideline, he stayed on the bench but did not see another snap. At practice Tuesday, Ouellette was present but not in pads. He was wearing a wrap on his right leg and did not participate in drills. “We’re going to go week-to-week on that,” Mace admitted in an update on his running back’s status. “It might be a tall task this week, but again, nothing long-term.” In Ouellette’s place, back-up Quali Conley took snaps with the starters. The Riders’ rookie running back has started two games already this season filling in for the veteran. Conley has rushed for 107 yards on 20 carries and scored his first CFL touchdown in Week 4 against Toronto. Offensive lineman Zack Fry was also a non-participant Tuesday. Mace says he, too, will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
