Lacey stabilizes middle of Riders' defence in Week 1

REGINA -

The retirement of Solomon Elimimian left big shoes to fill in the middle of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence at linebacker.

Enter Deon Lacey.

Lacey made his presence field during his first game in green and white last Friday, finishing with a team-high seven tackles and a sack.

"It was good to be back out and running around and playing and the first game being a win, that’s a plus for the team and a lot of mistakes we can learn from to make us better," Lacey said on Wednesday.

Lacey has plenty of experience, spending three seasons (2014-16) with the Edmonton Elks before heading to the NFL and playing in 53 games over the past four seasons with the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins.

Head coach Craig Dickenson said having Lacey’s veteran presence at middle linebacker is an important piece for the Riders with rookies at both strong and weak linebacker positions.

"He’s seen it and done it and that’s important," Dickenson said. "He brings a little wisdom and some composure back there, and I thought he did a pretty good job for us first game out."

"It helps us as far as knowing that we got somebody out there who’s been in a game, who knows what to do, who’s going to communicate and play fast and play hard," Riders’ defensive back Ed Gainey added.

While most of the Riders’ roster sat on the sidelines with the CFL season cancelled in 2020, Lacey spent last season with the Bills, dressing in five games and making one tackle.

He said having that game experience last season is a leg up for him against the competition this season in the CFL.

"It helped me a lot because I didn’t have to sit around and not do football movements with the equipment and stuff like that," Lacey said.

The bigger field in the Canadian game can present some challenges for players coming up from America, but Lacey said it was business as usual for him.

While Lacey feels comfortable back in the CFL, playing middle linebacker is new for him.

He said it’s a much more physical game for him in the middle.

"You have to be the quarterback of the defence and I like be verbal, so it works out when everybody communicates," Lacey said.

"I got a senior secondary that already know the defence and it’s faster for me, so it’s great."

RIDERS DEFENCE LOOKING FOR MORE COMPLETE GAME AGAINST HAMILTON

Saskatchewan held B.C. to only 127 yards and nine points in the first half, but allowed 304 yards in the second half as the Lions closed the Riders lead to four points by the end of the game.

Heading into a Week 2 matchup with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium, the Riders’ defence knows a more complete game will be needed.

"It’s always bend but don’t break when you’re on defence," Gainey said. "You’re going to give up some plays, you just got to be resilient out there."

Dickenson said the Riders have been working on their conditioning this week.

"We worked hard today and they ran at the end of practice, so our conditioning will get better each week," he said.

Lacey agreed with his coaches assessment that conditioning needs to continue to improve.

"We came out with a lot of energy and we need to finish with a lot of energy," he said.

The Riders (1-0) host Jeremiah Masoli, Brandon Banks and the Tiger-Cats (0-1) on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.