The Saskatchewan Roughriders will return to the practice field after their bye week tomorrow morning. Riders’ defensive lineman Shane Ray says they are ready to return to work.
“To win 10 games in a season is not an easy feat against this competition, so to be where we are now, we just want to continue to stack it. It's every week, one game at a time.”
Ray, a former Toronto Argonauts and Denver Broncos defender, says he is feeling confident.
“It's definitely a thing that you got to get through experience and running plays over and over and over and over again, but definitely our confidence together as a unit, especially as a D-line unit, we're feeling like we're gelling and we're hitting all at the right cylinders. You know, you have a guy between me, Mike Scoop, and Mike Rose. You have somebody who'll get a sack, and you do not even count our linebackers and DBs coming to get sacks. We're making plays, man, and we're playing together, and it's showing.”
The confidence extends to his teammates regarding trusting their eyes and making adjustments.
“It's really our confidence in Mace. Every team we play this year will give us their best game; that's just expected. So, coming out, we might have a couple of hiccups here and there, and then we might come back to the sideline, listen to our coaching staff, and understand that this is what we need to do. We've been able to fill those holes. Obviously, teams will make plays here and there, but to have that confidence and know that we need to adjust and go out there and just put it on the team, we've been able to do that.”
The 32-year-old says that after clinching a playoff spot before their bye week, their focus will now shift to securing a home playoff game.
“When this team was assembled early in the year, J.O. and Mace had the idea that this is a Grey Cup team we're trying to assemble. I felt that energy, you know, being around a Grey Cup team in Toronto and a Super Bowl team. I felt the energy of how this team could be.”
The Roughriders return to action on Saturday night in Edmonton.
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