CFL command centre should review head hits: Riders QB
REGINA — Brandon Bridge is calling for change.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback wants the CFL’s command centre to have the ability to review hits to the head for potential penalties after he was the latest pivot to be on the receiving end of a controversial tackle on Sunday.
The Mississauga, Ont., native was hit late in the fourth quarter of Saskatchewan’s West Division semifinal loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by Jackson Jeffcoat, who was not penalized for the helmet-to-helmet collision.
“If the command centre sees that it was a head-to-head [collision], I think that they should be able to review that,” Bridge said Tuesday as the Roughriders cleaned out their lockers.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said allowing the command centre to make calls on plays like that one is something the league will look at in the offseason.
He said the CFL has already started reaching out to team personnel to get their thoughts on potential changes.
Bridge said he underwent concussion testing following the hit, but is feeling pretty good and could have played this weekend. He doesn’t fault the referees for not calling a penalty on the play as they had a difficult angle.
Bridge said giving the command centre the ability to review would also help eliminate head hits.
Saskatchewan was also hurt on a non-call in its regular-season finale when first-string quarterback Zach Collaros was hit high by Odell Willis of the B.C. Lions. Collaros passed concussion protocol ahead of the Winnipeg matchup, but head coach Chris Jones opted not to play him and risk Collaros’s health.
Jones said it’s a bit frustrating to see no penalty called when his quarterbacks are hit in the head. He said he would give the CFL his opinion on potential changes if he’s asked.
“There does need to be some type of ramification for something negative that happens,” Jones said. “What that is will be beyond my purview.”
A roughing-the-passer penalty carries a 15-yard penalty in the CFL and players can face supplemental fines. Even if no penalty is called on the play, a player can be suspended or face a maximum fine, which is half a paycheque.
Meanwhile, the Roughriders are entering the off-season with neither Collaros nor Bridge under contract, and Jones isn’t tipping his hand on whether he plans to bring them back.
Collaros and Bridge are set to become free agents in an offseason that could also potentially see stars Bo Levi Mitchell and Mike Reilly hit the market.
Jones, the Roughriders’ head coach and general manager, kept quiet on his personnel plans for next season, saying discussion about free agency would take place at a later time.
“We’ve just got to look for the consistency level,” he said.