Riders' Shaq Cooper to start at running back ahead of Ti-Cats matchup
The Saskatchewan Roughriders will start Shaq Cooper at running back on Friday’s matchup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“[Cooper has] had a good week at practice and then Mario (Alford) will back him up if we need to,” said Craig Dickenson, head coach. “We just want [Cooper] to take care of the football, do a good job in pass protections, and then run like he’s capable of. He’s still in pretty good shape, and looks like he’s ready to go.”
Cooper is back for his third sting with the Riders this season since being released after training camp then brought back during the team’s COVID-19 outbreak, and then released once again in August.
“Crazy man. Crazy journey. You know they say, things happen for a reason,” Cooper said. “I was blessed to get another opportunity to come and play ball.”
The team has been hit with injuries at running back when star Jamal Morrow went down, followed by Frankie Hickson, which left the Riders with starting third-string back-up, Kienan LaFrance in last week’s matchup against the Bombers.
However, LaFrance was injured in the first half and did not finish the game.
“It couldn’t have got any worse at the second half, where we didn’t have a running back,” said quarterback, Cody Fajardo. “But they’ve brought some guys in and looks like they’ve got some juice. Having Shaq Cooper back- he’s a guy who understands this offence and it’s not like he’s going to struggle with the playbook.”
However, Dickenson noted Cooper will not have to carry the entire load at running back as they will look to Mario Alford and players like Kian Schaffer-Baker to hopefully get some carries in Friday’s matchup.
“I can bring a little speed to the table and a lot of different schemes to make the defence think a little more,” said Alford.
“It’s something I take on every single day. Something the coaches trust me with, so it makes me want to work that much harder,” said Schaffer-Baker.
The team will travel to Hamilton on Thursday ahead of Friday’s game. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. on TSN.
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