The Saskatchewan Roughriders could have a change at quarterback for their regular season finale against the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.
Backup Jack Coan took all the first-team reps at Tuesday’s practice in place of veteran Trevor Harris, who appeared on the field later in the session but did not participate in any drills.
Riders coach Corey Mace said Harris was given the day off and is scheduled to start. However, he left the door open for Coen to replace Harris partway through the contest or even get the first action.
“Trevor has played 17 games and is the same age as me and probably just deserves a rest day,” Mace said. “The plan is Trevor’s playing. There’s a lot of guys that you’d think would be sitting. We have to be better. The thought process is we’re going to go out there and try to be better as a football team. As of right now, he’s playing.”
The Roughriders qualified for the playoffs with their 16-12 win over the Montreal Alouettes last Saturday, a victory that was solidified by Johnson’s 17-yard touchdown reception from Harris with 29 seconds remaining.
The Riders need a win against the Elks to stay on the West Division side of the bracket and travel to Vancouver to face the B.C. Lions next Saturday. A loss puts them on the East side and gives them a date with the Toronto Argonauts.
Coan’s only action this season came in garbage time of the previous matchup against the Alouettes last Monday. The 27-year-old pending free agent completed both of his pass attempts for 15 yards.
“It would be awesome to get back out there,” Coan said.
Mace calls Coan “Little Trevor” for the way he emulates Harris.
Harris, 40, has passed for a career-high 5,370 yards this season with 32 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
“If I sleep and think on it, it could potentially be a rest week,” Mace said. “Part of it is we’ll see what the tape looks like for what Jack put out there today. He looked pretty good. Trevor, that’s a tough guy to tell, ‘You’re not going to play.’ We’ll see how it goes. Ultimately, we’ve got faith in really all four quarterbacks to be able to do something for us to help us win.
“In fairness to Jack, he’s been here three years, biding his time. Depending on how the game would go, we’ll see. Again, we want to win, too. If Trevor’s going and he’s rolling, then we’re going to keep rolling.”
Top receiver KeeSean Johnson (ankle) also wasn’t at Tuesday’s practice. Linebacker Jaxon Ford and defensive back DaMarcus Fields (hamstring) weren’t with the first-team defence.
