Paredes kicking self for misses

DANIEL AUSTIN

Give Rene Paredes credit — he is accepting full responsibility for missing three converts on Thursday night.

Paredes is working with a new holder, in quarterback Andrew Buckley, and some fans were wondering on Thursday whether maybe the Calgary Stampeders’ longsnapper was a little off.

When the Stamps kicker was asked about his unusually tough night at McMahon Stadium on Friday, though, Paredes made one thing very clear.

“They’ve got nothing to do with it,” said Paredes of his snapper-holder battery.

The three missed converts came a week after Paredes missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt in overtime that would have sealed the Stampeders a victory in their season opener in the nation’s capital against the Ottawa Redblacks.

There’s cause for concern, to be sure.

But despite his reputation as one of the best kickers in the league, Paredes insists this isn’t the first time he’s gone through a rough patch in his career.

“It’s one of those nights. I’ve been here before. I’m not going to keep my head down. All you’ve gotta do is keep working hard, trust my rhythm and my kick and keep working,” Paredes said.

“I had a good camp. I had a good pre-season. I’ve been hitting the ball well. It’s just one of those nights, right? I kicked off amazing, made my extra point, then I had a bad one.”

When Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson was asked about Paredes on Friday, he said he was confident that the 32-year-old would work his way through the struggles and bounce back.

He’s earned a bit of a long leash, considering he went 56-for-64 on field-goals last year.

“It’s my rhythm — every kick was different,” Paredes said. “I lost my rhythm, and one thing I did a lot of was I got frustrated, which usually I don’t, and I think that had an effect on my next kicks.”

TIME OFF

The Stampeders will be getting the weekend off, and it sounds like they could all use a minute or two away from the field.

The team has been essentially going full-tilt since the beginning of training camp because of a schedule that saw them play two quick games in the first week of pre-season and then play twice in six days against the Grey Cup champions to kick off the regular season.

“I’m just going to give them some time and let them catch their breath a little bit,” Dickenson said.

GET NAKED

Nathaniel Behar might be going streaking.

The Edmonton Eskimos receiver sent out a tweet prior to the Stampeders game on Thursday showing his support for fellow Carleton University Ravens alum Tunde Adeleke, and it might come back to bite him.

“IF TUNDE CRIBS ONE TONIGHT I WILL GO STREAKING THROUGH THE STREETS OF EDMONTON HOLDING UP A CUTOUT OF HIS HEAD,” Behar tweeted.

Well … Adeleke did indeed crib one, running a fourthquarter punt back 72 yards for a touchdown.

To his credit, Behar seems to be taking it all with a sense of humour.

The 22-year-old shared a video after the game where he ordered a cut-out of Adeleke’s face online and then shook his head in disbelief.