Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 02:00PM
By Darrell Davis,
Regina Leader-Post
No longer the Saskatchewan Rougriders' starting safety, Tristan Clovis was asked if he thought about ducking all the unwanted attention.
"No, no, that's not me,'' Clovis said during a media scrum following the CFL team's workout Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium. "I'm accountable for my actions and what I do.
"We watched the film and saw what went wrong. It's one of those plays I'd like to have over, but I can't.''
Clovis, a two-year veteran, is going to be replaced by six-year veteran Scott Gordon when the Roughriders play host to the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
"I told Tristan, 'Don't lose your confidence,' " said Gordon. "I'm anticipating he'll be back. He's going to be a good player. And he's a good friend, so this is bittersweet. I hate to see it happen, that he's demoted for a week.
"Now I get an opportunity to step in there. After (training) camp I was frustrated that I wasn't in there, but I accepted it. They told me they would need me during the season. Maybe they want my experience and everybody expects me to take somebody's head off. But I'm going to play it safe and not make any mistakes.''
Clovis and halfback Rontarius Robinson were involved in a game-winning, last-minute play Saturday against the B.C. Lions. With 34 seconds remaining and facing third-and-10, B.C. quarterback Jarious Jackson tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Geroy Simon.
Riders head coach Kent Austin called the defensive breakdown "inexcusable," but he said the pending defensive changes weren't a result of that one play.
Defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall said Robinson missed Tuesday's practice because he is "nicked.'' If Robinson can't play he would be replaced by either Jermaine Chatman or David Heard. Chatman was benched after struggling two games ago against the Calgary Stampeders; Heard hasn't yet played this season. Clovis also missed a tackle during that 44-22 loss in Calgary.
Dimebacker T.J. Stancil has apparently recovered from his sore knee, so he would replace Sean Lucas. And injured wideout Matt Dominguez (sprained knee ligaments) caught a pass in a brief appearance before retreating to the locker room.
"These decisions are not made in one day,'' said Austin. "This is something that has been discussed now for two or three weeks, just like (slotback Andy Fantuz)'s situation was discussed for some time.
"It's not a spur-of-the-moment or knee-jerk decision. We look at that position. We evaluate the play accordingly. We also evaluate how there may or may not be ripple effects with respect to that and how it affects the overall composition of the football team.''
Fantuz, a second-year slotback, was relegated to backup duties earlier this season. As a starter Fantuz has caught touchdown passes in each of the last two games, although the Riders are mired in a three-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 7-5-0.
Saskatchewan sits second in the West. B.C. is first at 8-3-1 and the Stampeders, whom Saskatchewan visit Oct. 8, are third at 6-5-1.
"We evaluate players every week,'' said Hall. "The decision wasn't made because of what happened last week. It was involved in the final evaluation, but it's an evaluation where we looked over the course of the whole season. At times (Clovis) has played well. At times he has struggled.''
"Right now we're giving him an opportunity to step back and relax a bit because he's a young player and he's got a lot of future left in him in the CFL. You want to come back to where he doesn't put more pressure on himself."