Riders claim home playoff game but at what cost?

In this day and age when protecting players from head injuries is paramount, the CFL dropped the ball Saturday night.

The league's faux pas and an injury to a key player overshadowed what should have been a more celebratory home playoff clinching party for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders beat the visiting B.C. Lions 35-16 to finish the regular season with a 12-6 record, good enough to claim at least second spot in the West division.

But will they enter the playoffs with their quarterback?

Zach Collaros was on the receiving end of a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit delivered by Odell Willis late in the first quarter.

Collaros, who missed four games earlier in the season with a concussion, laid facing the stars for five seconds, then stopped himself from taking a knee a few times before calling a timeout.

At that point, no flag hadbeen thrown and there was no attempt by the officials to further examine Collaros, even with the hit replayed on the big screen numerous times to the groaning crowd.

It wasn't until head coach Chris Jones threw a challenge flag was an unnecessary roughness penalty called.

But Collaros continued to play, while showing the same eye flickering, unfocused look he had in Ottawa the night he suffered his last concussion.

Yes, no doubtCollaros told everyone who asked he was fine, but isn't that like taking the word of an impaired driver who claims he is fine?

The CFL employs injury spotters who monitor all games from the command centre.

It is the spotter's job to identify when a player is in distress.

That official has the power to have the player removed from the field for further examination.

Clearly the spotterwas on a bathroom break for this one.

Collaros was finally removed from the game after guiding the offence to a touchdown early in the 2nd quarter and he never returned.

"He should be fine, but we pulled him just to be safe." said Riders' head coach Chris Jones who described it as an unfortunate hit without any intention of ill will by former Rider Odell Willis.

"He [Collaros]took a good shot, a head-gear-to-head-gear shot;for precautionary reasons our trainers thought it was best to take him out of the football game, that's about all I know at this point."

And it may be several days before the rest of us get an update on Collaros' status.

The Riders now head into their bye week.

They won't return to the practice field until next week when they start getting ready for the playoffs with or without Collaros.

2nd place or top spot

Now here's some irony: the Riders will needthe team they beat Saturday nightto regroup and come up with a better effort next week.

The Riders will need the Lions to beat the Stampeders next Saturday, so Saskatchewan can overtake Calgary for first place in the west.

"That's what we told them walking off the field." said Riders' left tackle Takoby Cofield.

"Don't worry about this one and move ahead tomorrow, shake it off."

A Lions victory next week will mean the Riders host the west final the day before the start of Agribition, rather than the west semi-final on Remembrance Day.

Either way the Riders will enjoy at least two weeks off before they play again.

Time for the Riders to soak in some appreciation rather than disrespect they felt over the last couple weeks.

A 31-0 loss in Winnipeg will do that.

"A lot of people was doubting us, [but we] put the doubters to bed," said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

"They were talking about an early funeral, it's not time for us right now."

That sentiment was echoed by the head coach who was still drying off from a post-game Gatorade shower.

"We've got a great group, they're fun to be around, I want to choke them about half the time but they're like my nephews and brothers," boasted Jones with pride.

"I'm hard on them, but I'm just proud of how hard they worked and continue to hang in there."

He just needs them to hang in there a little while longer.