Award snub will motivate Gainey in playoffs

Ed Gainey will have a bigger chip on his shoulder Sunday when the Saskatchewan Roughriders face the Ottawa Redblacks in the East Division semifinal.

The Riders’ cornerback was miffed this week when Calgary Stampeders linebacker Alex Singleton was named the West Division finalist for the CFL’s outstanding defensive player award. Gainey was Saskatchewan’s candidate for the honour after registering a leaguehigh 10 interceptions while Singleton finished second overall in tackles with a 123, the most for a Canadian.

When the finalists were unveiled Thursday, Gainey tweeted, ‘I guess tackles are better than turnovers.’ On Saturday, Gainey made it a point to congratulate both Singleton and Montreal linebacker Kyries Hebert — the East Division finalist — but added the snub will provide him with more motivation Sunday.

“Yeah it does,” Gainey said. “But I don’t want to make it about me.

“I want to make it about my team and make sure everyone knows I’m going out there to play for my team and for what we have going on in the locker room.”

That didn’t stop Riders linebacker Henoc Muamba and veteran defensive back Jovon Johnson from chiming in on the subject.

“Tackles mean a lot,” Muamba said.

“All tackles matter but 10 turnovers you can’t deny,” Johnson countered. “You can tackle a guy 20 yards down the field and it doesn’t matter, it’s a first down already.”

Added Muamba: “Tackles matter too.”

“He’s a linebacker,” a smiling Johnson said playfully.

Gainey was a key cog in a Saskatchewan defence that registered 40 takeways (13 fumbles, 19 interceptions, eight on downs), third-most in the CFL. The Riders were also plus-12 in the givewaytakeaway ratio, leaving them third overall.

Ottawa’s offence had 34 turnovers (third-most in the CFL) and its givewaytakeaway ratio was minus-12.

“It’s a telling stat in a game so we need to improve upon that for sure,” Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell said. “I know in the Hamilton game (41-36 win Oct. 27) we were minus-5 and still won.

“The good news is we can play football and find a way to win a game doing that but obviously that’s not going to happen all the time. We need to make sure we take care of it on offence and on defence create momentum-changing plays.”