Matt Smith / CFL.ca
REGINA – Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Chris Jones said he won’t have time to go fishing this week.
Despite beating the Hamilton Tiger Cats 18-13 on Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium to improve to .500 before a Week 5 bye, Jones said there’s lots of work to be done before a Week 7 rematch against the Ticats.
Nonetheless, he conceded his players came through in the clutch in a come-from-behind victory over Hamilton.
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“That’s a big win. The pressure to win every week is big, but to come up and play big in the fourth quarter with guys who people aren’t expecting to make those plays… that’s what I’m most proud of,” he said. “We chipped away and got a shot to come down and win the game in the fourth quarter.”
The Ticats and Roughriders wrestled back and forth throughout the evening, but it wasn’t until Marcus Thigpen ran in a 34-yard touchdown with less than two minutes remaining that the Riders sealed the win.
Jones employed a dual-quarterback tandem in the victory, with both Brandon Bridge and David Watford taking turns pivoting the offence.
“With our QBs, it is what it is until we can figure it out,” Jones said. “They are handling it real well. We want more out of them, I’m hard on them (but) they both have unique qualities.”
Bridge, who was at the helm on the game-winning drive, admitted the quarterback situation is unusual.
“You make the best of it, that’s the cards we were dealt,” he said. “It’s strange, I have never been involved in that, it’s hard to get into a rhythm, but I can’t control that.”
Bridge re-iterated Jones in saying that there is lots of work to do on the bye week before the Ticats and Riders, both 2-2, meet in the rematch at Tim Hortons Field on July 19.
