Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Shea Patterson will make his first career CFL start Thursday night against the visiting Toronto Argonauts at Regina.
Patterson will replace Trevor Harris, who is out with sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Harris sustained the injury while being sacked during the second quarter of a 36-20 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 23.
“The good news is it’s not a season-ender,” Roughriders coach Corey Mace said.
Patterson, who has been used in short-yardage situations, took over from Harris against Hamilton and produced 41 yards on 4-of-10 passing.
“You know, it was a weird situation to go in,” Patterson said. “I was just trying to go in and manage the game and not do anything too crazy.”
The Roughriders (3-0) did not play last week.
In 21 career CFL games, Patterson has connected on 8 of 16 passes for 73 yards. He has 29 rushes for 61 yards and four touchdowns in his CFL career, which included a stint with the Montreal Alouettes in 2021 before he signed with Saskatchewan last year.
“(Patterson) does everything right,” Mace said. “His vehicle is here sometimes before mine (at the team’s facility), which is crazy. I’m so excited for the kid and the team’s excited to rally around him.”
Saskatchewan also will be without receiver Shawn Bane Jr. (personal). KeeSean Johnson will likely take his place. Linebacker Adam Auclair (shoulder) and running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon (head) are also out.
Saskatchewan running back AJ Ouellette will play against Toronto, his former team, for the first time.
The Argonauts (2-1) are coming off a 30-20 home loss to Montreal on Friday.
Toronto quarterback Cameron Dukes was 22-for-32 for 199 yards while throwing his first interception of the season.
“Too many penalties,” Toronto coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “We just didn’t play winning football. … We had too many mistakes on offense.
“I could’ve given our quarterback better opportunities to throw the ball. It’s unfortunate, we never want to put on that performance in front of our crowd at home, but I think we have a lot to learn from.”
The Argonauts made some adjustments this week. They signed defensive lineman Jay Person and defensive backs Robert Priester and Mark Milton. Toronto released defensive backs Darius Joiner and Marquis Waters.
Priester played five games with the Argonauts last season and was with their 2022 Grey Cup champions.
Toronto linebacker Quincy Mauger (leg) was moved to the six-game injured list.
–Field Level Media
