Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

If the Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches are basing their roster decisions solely on the CFL team’s final preseason game, they wouldn’t have many decisions to make.

Very few rookies jumped to the forefront during Saskatchewan’s 37-7 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. For that matter, very few veterans made an impression, either, although that’s because there were very few veterans playing.

“Our decisions are made not only on the preseason games, but based also on how our players performed throughout training camp,” said Roughriders head coach Ken Miller. “We have had some players who have had outstanding training camps.”

The Roughriders left 18 veterans off their 56-man roster; 13 of them were starters. And the veterans who dressed played little more than one quarter of Thursday’s horror show.

It showed.

The Roughriders had little cohesion, less enthusiasm and even fewer memorable plays.

Aside from a near interception by veteran defensive back Eddie Davis in the opening minutes, a 28-yard kickoff return by Carl Berman, a 24-yard run by quarterback Steven Jyles, a couple of solid containment plays by defensive ends Ron Flemons and Jimmy Verdon, the range of linebacker Anton McKenzie and — again — the surprising running of former Regina Thunder tailback Stu Foord (who led all rushers with 86 yards on nine carries), the Roughriders were a nondescript bunch.

The Eskimos were more intent to play their veterans. Eskimos coach Danny Maciocia, whose every move is being closely scrutinized after two non-playoff seasons, was unhappy with the public criticism his team absorbed for losing 39-14 to the Calgary Stampeders in its first preseason game.

For that contest, the Eskimos left behind most of their starters, including quarterback Ricky Ray. That wasn’t the case Friday, as the more-than-determined Eskimos rolled up the score on their West Division rivals, who will most definitely remember this slight when they open their CFL regular seasons with a June 28 rematch in Regina.

“Yeah, they really wanted to win,” Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman said late in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game, noting that the Eskimos still had some veterans in the contest despite the lopsided score.

“They’re still throwing vertically (deep) versus our twos and threes (second- and third-stringers).

“When you’re competitive, things like this are tough to digest. But we know we’ll be better when we get our starters in the lineup.”

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