Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Darian Durant has handled the pressure of being the Saskatchewan Roughriders starting quarterback during the team’s main training camp.

He has an opportunity Wednesday to elevate that to another level when the Roughriders play the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium (7 p.m, CKRM). It’s the first pre-season CFL game for both teams and Durant is looking forward to making the move from the drills of training camp to actual game conditions.

“When you’re in practice, there isn’t any tackling or sacking the quarterback,” Durant said Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium before leaving for Edmonton. “When you have the live bullets flying, that’s when you see where you are. You also see where you need to speed up your game or slow things down.”

It’s also important that Durant has a strong performance to establish himself in the minds of the players and coaches that he is indeed the player to lead the Riders at the most pivotal position.

“I just want to move the chains, move the team and be a leader,” said Durant. “I don’t want to put the team in a bad situation. I want to make the plays when they are there and have fun.”

Durant is expected to play the first quarter and a series into the second. Steven Jyles will take over from there and guide the team into the third quarter. Dalton Bell is next and he is to be followed by Juan Joseph.

Jyles and Bell are in a heated competition for the second on the quarterback’s depth chart.

“I don’t think I’m slipping down the depth chart,” said Jyles, who was considered to second when the Riders’ training camp began. “I’m always competing. It’s just a matter of what the coaches see. If they call on me to start, I feel that I’m ready to start.”

Jyles also feels that he has to show the coaches an ability to move the ball and make smart plays.

“Saskatchewan is all about big plays,” said Jyles. “You just can’t get back there and throw the ball away. You have to make something happen.”

Ken Miller, the Riders head coach, said that Tuesday’s game could go a long way to establishing the depth chart at quarterback.

“We’ll see and evaluate them closely,” said Miller. “Then we will have to make those determinations after we evaluate the video.”

Miller added that he will evaluate the quarterbacks based on three factors: An ability to operate the Riders’ offence; make good decisions; and, to make plays.

The Riders have 65 players listed on the roster for the game. Twenty-seven of the players who made the trip are rookies. Miller said that the veterans will see limited action but that could change based on injuries. But the first of two pre-season games is about evaluating younger players under game conditions.

“We’re going to go with the younger players this game,” said Miller. “If we have to have veterans take more repetitions in the next game, we’ll do it that way.”

The Riders’ second pre-season encounter is Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium against the Calgary Stampeders.

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