The Saskatchewan Roughriders head to Edmonton on Saturday to take on the Elks without their superstar wide receiver Duke Williams, who is out with an ankle injury..Removing Williams from the roster and putting him on the one-game injured list was a last-minute change..In the season opener against the Tiger-Cats, Williams had five receptions for 58 yards..With Williams out, the Roughriders are starting three Canadian receivers, including Saskatchewan product Mitch Picton, who played for the University of Regina..Picton had a breakout season in 2021 with 25 receptions for 218 yards and one touchdown in 10 games..Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo is ready to take on the Elks and prove the Elks Head Coach Chris Jones wrong after some off-season criticism..“I love it because it keeps the CFL in the headlines. I am in the headlines quite a bit, and honestly, I wish it could be someone else. To tell you the truth, the NFL is really good at that, talking about NFL football year-round,” said Fajardo..“The more we can do that as the CFL, the more eyes we can get on it all over. The more relevant you are outside of the season, it’s really going to pay dividends for the whole league.”.Jones said that Fajardo is not a “top five guy at quarterback” in the CFL..“There’s always added motivation when somebody doesn’t think you’re as good as you believe that you are. So I’m excited about the opportunity and hopefully, I can go out there and play my best,” said Fajardo..At the Elks press conference on Friday, Jones walked back his offseason comments about Fajardo..“Cody has won a lot more games than he’s lost and he’s a good football player. It was just taken out of context,” said Jones..“I don’t want to take anything away from Cody because he plays with such passion. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it was presented.”.A top priority for Jones is trying to stop Fajardo, who threw for 311 yards and one touchdown in week one against the Tiger-Cats..The Elks top defensive back, Jalen Colins, will be a key player to shut down Fajardo’s arm..Fajardo’s number one wide receiver in week one was Shaq Evans for 10 catches and 92 yards on four receptions..The Roughriders' offence had a slow start last week but put up 18 points in the fourth quarter..Not only do the Elks have to shut down Fajardo in the air, but he ran the ball 10 times for 42 yards and a touchdown against the Tiger-Cats..The Roughriders’ defence allowed only one touchdown and two field goals against the Tiger-Cats, who lost in last season’s Grey Cup..The Elks offensive line has their work cut out for them as seven different Roughrider players recorded sacks..Defensive lineman Pete Robertson finished with two sacks and a forced fumble against the Tiger-Cats..“We have a message to send and that’s to play well every game. I like to say we are all one. It’s not just the defensive line, not just the linebackers or defensive backs, we all work together.,” Robertson told riderville.com. .“We want to continue to play at the level we’ve been playing at. We showed it week 1 and week 2. We want to work to improve to get even better because there’s always room to get better.”.In week one, the Tiger-Cats lost 59-15 to the BC Lions and the Roughriders beat the Tiger-Cats 30-13..Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm MST.
