Edmonton Elks' quarterback Cody Fajardo set the record straight after being sacked eight times by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in his team's Week 8 loss at Mosaic Stadium.
"I thought our offensive line played absolutely amazing. There's a couple of plays that were on me, some RPO stuff where I pulled the ball and it's a run or pass option, but I held on to the ball too long," Fajardo said post-game.
"So a lot of those sacks are on me, I'm going to take that and I'm going to be better for those guys. I thought that going into this game, the Riders have one of the best defensive lines in this league. You see them on paper, they got a lot of guys who've played a lot of football games, but I was really proud of the way our offensive line fought."
The Elks suffered a 21-18 defeat to the Riders in Fajardo's first start against Saskatchewan since leaving the Green and White following the 2022 CFL season. He completed 26-of-33 passes for 346 yards with two touchdowns and did not throw an interception.
"Usually, you should be winning games if you throw for 300, but I thought our defence played outstanding. I thought offensively we moved the ball really well, we couldn't finish with points. Early on, we were backed up. Their punter must have had a really good game because I felt like most of the time we got the ball, we were a little bit backed up. There are some things we need to clean up, some penalty things offensively, defensively, special teams-wise," Fajardo detailed.
"I don't know what the penalty differentiation was, but I would assume we lost that. That's big in tight games like this. We're learning, we're still learning, but we're running out of time to learn. We got to find ways to win football games, but I think this is a confident group that's going to continue to grind."
The Roughriders have the best record in the CFL at 6-1 while the Elks sit last place in the West Division at 1-5. Fajardo's head coach, first-year bench boss Mark Kilam analyzed his quarterback's performance and pointed out what really matters.
"I think his stat line was decent, but the only stat that really matters is wins and losses," Kilam said. "I don't think the gap is as far as the record indicates, but if we want to have a chance against a good team at their place, we have to play better football."
The 33-year-old Fajardo is in his ninth season in the CFL and spent 2019 through 2022 with the Riders. He completed 70.5 percent of his passes for 10,631 yards with 48 touchdowns compared to 32 interceptions while rushing 266 times for 1,436 yards plus 22 majors. The six-foot-one, 215-pound QB compiled a 43-29-1 win-loss-tie record with Saskatchewan.
"I knew I was going to get some boos, but I did see some Fajardo jerseys in the stands, that made me feel good. I will say that 'Bring 'Em Out' gave me a little bit of chills up my spine because I remember running out to that music and that theme song," Fajardo said. "It was fun to get my first start against those guys. That's a good football team, but I have to be better for this team if we want to win games."
