By Rob Vanstone and Murray McCormick, Leader-PostOctober 21, 2009REGINA
— Jason Armstead has had many successful returns since returning to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
But there is one notable void.
Armstead has yet to cross the goal line on a punt or kickoff return during the first seven games of his second stint with Saskatchewan.
“We haven’t got the big home run that we’re looking for, but everything is going pretty good,’’ Armstead said Tuesday. “The blocks are there and everybody is working hard collectively and we’ve been able to get some good field position. That’s basically what our goal is and we’ve been accomplishing it week in and week out.
“The big goal that we’ve set for ourselves is crossing that tape and we have yet to do that. Hopefully this week we’ll get one.’’
Despite the lack of a touchdown, Armstead has still been productive. He was named the CFL’s special-teams player-of-the-week on Tuesday — three days after returning five kickoffs for 145 yards and four punts for 25 yards in a 44-44 overtime tie with the Calgary Stampeders. Armstead has come close to going the distance in each of the Roughriders’ past two games.
“We’re getting very close, but we still haven’t crossed it,’’ Armstead said. “It’s like getting to the top of the hill — almost. ‘Almost’ doesn’t get it done.’’
“We’re getting very close, but we still haven’t crossed it,’’ Armstead said. “It’s like getting to the top of the hill — almost. ‘Almost’ doesn’t get it done.’’
Armstead is the last Roughrider to return a punt or kickoff for a touchdown. He accomplished that feat on July 20, 2007, taking a punt 90 yards to paydirt against the host Edmonton Eskimos. Shortly thereafter, he was traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
As a second-time Roughrider, Armstead has returned 27 punts for 239 yards and 21 kickoffs for 504 yards.
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The Roughriders returned to practice Tuesday looking to put an unnecessary roughness penalty on John Chick in Saturday’s overtime draw behind them.
It didn’t sound like they were over the penalty, which was assessed when Chick landed on Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris. Chick tackled Burris, who had stumbled and fallen to the turf. The penalty changed Calgary's prospects from third-and-long in the overtime period to a fresh set of downs.
“I’m not sure we’ll ever get over the call,’’ Roughriders head coach Ken Miller said with a chuckle. “We have to get the page turned to focus on where we’re going and not where we’ve been.’’
Miller said he would expect Chick to do the same thing if a similar situation arises.
“It was a really close call and if the ball carrier, including the quarterback, is still alive, technically he should only be touched,’’ said Miller. “But in that case, we had a defensive end who was fighting his fanny off to get off a block. He didn’t know if he was down or not down by contact. He was just trying to make a play.
“It was a really close call and if the ball carrier, including the quarterback, is still alive, technically he should only be touched,’’ said Miller. “But in that case, we had a defensive end who was fighting his fanny off to get off a block. He didn’t know if he was down or not down by contact. He was just trying to make a play.
“I would hope that he would make that play time after time. The fact it got called was unfortunate for us.’’
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EXTRA POINTS: It doesn’t appear that punter Jamie Boreham (neck) will return to the Riders’ active roster anytime soon. Miller said Tuesday that Boreham won’t play Saturday against the visiting B.C. Lions or for the foreseeable future. Placekicker Luca Congi is expected to handle the punting and kickoff duties for the third straight game ... Wide receiver Gerran Walker suffered a sprained left ankle against the Stampeders but may play on Saturday. Miller said Walker was running on a treadmill without much pain . . . The participation of slotback Andy Fantuz in practice was limited due to tightness in a hamstring. Miller said that Fantuz would be ready to play on the weekend ... There were two new faces at practice — offensive tackle Cliff Washburn and defensive back Carlo Thomas. The Riders acquired Washburn in a trade on Thursday for future considerations. Thomas, who signed with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers earlier this year, dressed for 48 games with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Thomas, 22, had 60 defensive tackles and six interceptions with South Carolina.
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