Here are the quotes from Rider Head Coach & GM Chris Jones:
DOES THIS GAME HAVE A PLAYOFF FEEL?
CJ: Yeah. I was just talking to somebody earlier that hopefully we've done enough to prepare them that they're ready for this moment in their house, and basically playing an opponent that's been a very tough opponent and won a lot of football games with a guy (Mike Reilly) that's been an M.O.P., that's won a Grey Cup, and been in this situation before. Hopefully we've done enough to prepare them because I can assure you that none of the coaches are going to make any tackles (on Monday). Hopefully we've done something to make 'em be in the moment. When we line up in "bunch", hopefully they communicate. When we line up in "stack", hopefully we communicate. When we go on "2", we can stay onside. All those sorts of little things that good teams do.
HOW DIFFERENT ARE THESE TEAMS FROM YOUR MEETING IN WEEK 8?
CJ: They've lost some close football games too. Certainly they've gotta protect Mike and they know it. They gotta run the football effectively. But it's nothing any different than what we gotta do. We've gotta protect Zach and run the football effectively in order to win the game. It's going to be a really good football game.
HOW ARE YOU 6-1 SINCE THAT LOSS IN EDMONTON?
CJ: It's hard to put a finger on one thing. We've played some close, close games in the games that we've lost. Even the game in Edmonton came down to some QB sneaks or the game could've been the other direction. Just continuing to believe in what we do, continuing to work hard in the weight room and stay the course.
WHAT'S MIKE REILLY'S PREP LIKE AFTER A LOSS?
CJ: It's razor sharp. I assure you that nobody's working any harder than him. He's a guy who's got a lot of pride. You're going to get his best shot on Monday and that's what I just told the team. Everybody's talking all bad about them like they were talking bad about us a few weeks ago. We can't get ahead of ourself and we have to remember they're going to come out of that corner fighting. We're going to get their best shot.
WHAT ABOUT THIS TIGHT DIVISION?
CJ: The West Division is tight, top-to-bottom. Any team that you play is capable of winning the football game on a particular day. It comes down to doing exactly what I talked about earlier. You need to protect your QB, run the football effectively, play good solid defense and don't give up big plays on special teams. That's literally kind of a cliche but that's exactly the case in the western division. You've gotta fend for yourself, but that's good though. It makes the games important. That's why you got into football years ago and got into coaching; for games exactly like this.
WHY HAS YOUR O-LINE TAKEN THE MOST PENALTIES BUT YOUR D-LINE HAS DRAWN THE FEWEST?
CJ: I knew we had the most, but I didn't know we had the least called in our favour. I've been on the offensive line about making sure that they keep their hands inside. You can't do anything defensively other than continue to battle. Willie and Charleston and that crew, they need to get on up the field and make plays. Really all you can worry about is make our plays and we trust the League that they're gonna do what they have to do with officiating.
ARE CREWS CALLING IT DIFFERENTLY?
CJ: We do a study on Day 2 and Day 3. We put them up on the board and show which crew calls more hits on the QB or unnecessary roughness or illegal blocks in the kicking game. We scout the officiating crews.
*Kickoff on Monday is 2:00 pm on TSN and the 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network.
RP
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