REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders made one key change to their starting line-up heading into the Banjo Bowl against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday afternoon and it’s in a position where they’ve already taken a bit of a beating in recent weeks.
Safety Jaxon Ford had seen sparse action in practice leading up to the contest and was ruled questionable with a knee injury in the team’s final injury report. That news took a further step to the bad when it was announced Friday he would be out for the Labour Day Classic rematch.
As a result, fellow Canadian Kosi Onyeka will get the start at safety on Saturday. The University of Guelph graduate has played in four games this season and has seen most of his action on special teams, recording nine tackles with that unit and 10 overall.
Starting safety Nelson Lokombo is currently on the one-game injured list after suffering an ankle injury in Week 11 against Hamilton. Ford had stepped in to start the following two games against Calgary and Winnipeg before being injured last week, he's also on the one-game list.
Regina product Mitch Picton returns after spending Week 13 on the one-game injured list and moves in behind Tommy Nield at slotback. That’s where receiver Ajou Ajou found himself last week in his first game of the season, and he’ll get his first start of the campaign at slotback ahead of fellow Canadian Dhel Duncan-Busby.
Former 1,000-yard receiver Shawn Bane Jr. continues to get closer and closer to returning to the line-up from a knee injury and was listed as available for the Banjo Bowl but will take another week in his recovery.
Other than that, the line-up remains intact from last week, with both the offensive line and defensive line units escaping mostly unscathed, as did the receiving group and the remainder of the defensive secondary. That includes defensive back Marcus Sayles, who was questionable heading into the Labour Day Classic with a hip injury but has since recovered.
Be sure to catch the Rider Broadcast Network pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, followed by Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder with the game call at 2 p.m. from Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
