RIDERS’ KERRY JOSEPH APPEARS SET TO START
Worked with first-team offence during Thursday’s practice.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are looking at a Hail Kerry in an attempt to end their uncertainty at quarterback.
Veteran Kerry Joseph, who celebrated his 41st birthday Oct. 4, was working with the first-team offence during Thursday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium. Head coach Corey Chamblin and Joseph were both coy when asked about the latter’s role in Sunday’s CFL game against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos.
The signs point toward Joseph starting based on the fact he took the majority of the repetitions with the offensive starters. Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege are likely to serve as understudies after both started at quarterback since Darian Durant was sidelined by an injured right elbow on Sept. 7.
“Thursday was an abbreviated practice in terms of Day 1,” Chamblin said when asked about Joseph serving as the primary quarterback with the first-team offence. “(Today) we have more team periods and they will be split up a little bit more there.”
The Riders’ options are likely limited to Joseph as the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game because Sunseri and Doege have struggled in their appearances during Durant’s time on the six-game injured list. The Riders had an 8-2 record with Durant as the starter, including a 30-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 7. The Riders have since lost four of their last five games and have fallen to 9-6.
Joseph, who ended his retirement to return to the Riders Oct. 9, watched Sunseri and Doege struggle in Monday’s 40-9 loss to host Montreal. Sunseri and Doege completed a combined 10 of 18 pass attempts for 109 yards, including a touchdown pass and two interceptions.
Joseph said Thursday he was not looking ahead to a start against Edmonton while the offence sputtered Monday in Montreal.
“During the course of the game, when you’ve got two young guys who haven’t seen a lot, you try to help them in every way,” said Joseph, who announced his retirement in January after spending three seasons with the Ottawa Renegades, two with the Roughriders, two with the Toronto Argonauts and four with Edmonton. “Like I told Seth, in my first year I think I threw (20) interceptions. You just learn as you see it and the more that you see it, the better you’re going to get. That was my focus during the game — how can we get some points on the board?”
Offensive co-ordinator George Cortez was confident Joseph would learn Saskatchewan’s offence in a relatively short time. Cortez and Joseph both said Edmonton used a similar offensive scheme in 2013, which has helped accelerate the learning process. Cortez and Doug Sams, Edmonton’s offensive co-ordinator in 2013, worked together with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2012. Cortez was the head coach and offensive co-ordinator while Sams was Hamilton’s quarterbacks coach.
“Some of the words aren’t the same, but the concepts are,” Cortez said. “Once you get into the season, you start changing things up. We have some things now that we didn’t have in training camp and that’s always a factor. The general concepts are the same. The week-to-week things, that’s the same for everybody whether they have been here all of the time or they just came in here.”
Cortez believes Joseph’s experience helps when learning the offence. The high point of Joseph’s CFL career, which began in 2003, was 2007 when he quarterbacked Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup championship and was named the league’s most outstanding player.
“He has an understanding of what people are doing and what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Cortez, who was Saskatchewan’s offensive line coach when Joseph made his Riders debut in 2006. “That means you don’t have to start at ground zero like you do with the guy who hasn’t been in the league or hasn’t been in 12-man football before.”
Joseph has had to knock off some of the rust because he hasn’t started since 2012. Joseph’s role was primarily as a backup in his final season with the Eskimos. He hasn’t started a game since Nov. 11, 2012, when the Eskimos were beaten 42-26 by the Argonauts in the East Division semifinal. Joseph, who rushed for a yard on a thirdand-one gamble Monday, was making his first game appearance since Nov. 2 when the visiting Eskimos beat the Riders 30-26.
Joseph is now preparing to possibly start against the Eskimos, who are in second place in the West with a 10-5 record. The Riders and Eskimos have both clinched playoff berths. Playoff seedings are still being determined.
“That’s who we play?” Joseph said with a laugh.” You know what? It’s the next game. We’re just focusing on the next game.
“I know it’s Edmonton coming in here. If I said I didn’t have a little chip on my shoulder, I’d be lying to you, but you use it in a certain way. I want to use it to help this team any way possible — to help the younger guys and bring a lot of energy because we do need to get on a roll going into the playoffs.”