IN HIS HANDS NOW
With starting QB Zach Collaros out for six games with a concussion, the Riders are handing the leading role to Brandon Bridge, who says he will ‘hold down the ship.’
The grounding of No. 1 quarterback Zach Collaros has cleared Air Canada for another takeoff with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager, announced Tuesday that Collaros was being placed on the six-game injured list due to a concussion. Collaros suffered the head injury during Saskatchewan’s 40-17 loss to the host Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.
Brandon Bridge, who is dubbed Air Canada due to his Canadian passport, will be the Riders’ starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Bridge will start when the Riders play host to the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday.
“Because Zach is on the sixgamer, I will hold down the ship,” Bridge said Tuesday. “There are three quarterbacks (with the Riders) who want to play and we’re just going to hold it down until he gets back. We hope for a speedy recovery and we would love to have him back in the locker-room.”
It’s the third concussion Collaros has suffered during his seven-year CFL career. Due to the uncertainty of the recovery time from concussions, Jones wasn’t sure when Collaros will return.
“You can be optimistic all you want, but I’ve seen some guys who didn’t respond well,” Jones said. “We’ll just go with whatever cards we are dealt.”
The Riders will need to add another quarterback to the roster because they are left with only Bridge and David Watford. An option might have been Nick Marshall, who started at cornerback in Saskatchewan’s 27-19 win over the Toronto Argonauts on June 15.
Marshall, who played quarterback at Auburn University and worked in the wildcat formation during the Riders’ training camp, is on the six-game injured list with a broken finger.
“Of course, we’ll have three quarterbacks at some point,” Jones said. “As of this week, we’ll see what we need.”
Regardless, it will be the 26-yearold Bridge starting for the Riders. He has been in the CFL for four seasons, but has only two starts over that span. He made his first CFL start with the Alouettes on Nov. 8, 2015, in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Riders.
In 2017, he was the winning quarterback in Saskatchewan’s 27-19 victory on Sept. 15 over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats while starter Kevin Glenn was nursing a hand injury.
“My preparation for the game won’t change,” Bridge said. “It’s just the number of repetitions I get in practice that will change.”
Bridge replaced Collaros against the Redblacks, completing 13 of 22 passes for 145 yards and an interception. He exhibited his mobility while rushing four times for 27 yards.
“(Bridge’s mobility) is something that you always look at,” said Stephen McAdoo, the Riders’ offensive co-ordinator.
“It’s not something that you want your quarterback constantly doing. When things break down, you want him to take off and run because that’s a guy they don’t account for. You don’t want him to have a mindset of running when there are passes down the field.”
McAdoo is confident Bridge can handle the load of being the starter.
“He’s very cerebral in the classroom and does what he needs to do on the field,” McAdoo said. “He puts in the work. You tailor things to his attributes, but you don’t really cut the offence down. There are more things that I will probably call because I know what he does well.”
Regardless of who is at quarterback, Saskatchewan’s offensive line will have to perform better than it did against the Redblacks. The Riders couldn’t handle the pressure from Ottawa’s defensive line, which contributed to Collaros and Bridge both absorbing numerous hits.
The number of hits led to Collaros leaving the game in just his second start with the Riders.
“We knew it was bad as a soon as it happened and it can’t make you feel any worse,” said veteran guard Brendon LaBatte.
“When it’s bad, it’s bad and you can’t do anything else. What’s done is done and you have to put it in your rear-view mirror and let it be a good lesson for us.”
Because Zach is on the six-gamer, I will hold down the ship. There are three quarterbacks (with the
Riders) who want to play and we’re just going to hold it down until he gets back.