Taman And Hopson

Roughrider GM Brendan Taman spoke to the media today about the release of WR Prechae Rodriguez, the placement of KOR/PR Dominique Dorsey on the 9-game injured list and where the team's going from here:

TAMAN: Prechae just, for whatever reason, didn't work out. He didn't have the confidence of our staff. I talked to him last night and this morning and came to the conclusion that he wasn't in our plans going forward. We'll give Cary (Koch) a look and go from there. Dominique has battled through a few things. Obviously he didn't perform very well last week and we finalized that we weren't going forward with him either. He had a hamstring and a dislocated finger so we basically wrote him off for the year and we'll go from there. We'll give Weston Dressler a look there this week and go from there.

Q. Is it dangerous having Dressler return kicks?

TAMAN: I watched Winnipeg use their best DB there all game last week. I don't think they worried about it so I don't know if we will.

Q. Did Dorsey dislocate his finger in the game?

TAMAN: It was Labour Day, but it's no excuse.

Q. How disappointing is it since they were brought in with much hype this off-season.

TAMAN: It was very disappointing. Dominque, I don't know where his ability went, but we didn't see it this year. He's as disappointed as anybody and we all are. Those things happen. You can't foreshadow what's going to happen over the course of a season.

Q. Are you bringing Ryan Grice-Mullen in?

TAMAN: I talked to a lot of people over the course of the day but he's not here right now. I hope he's on a plane coming here. Without a return game succeeding very well, we needed to look at that. He'll go on the practice roster and we'll go from there. But he hasn't been signed.

Q. Does Hugh Charles get on the roster?

TAMAN: That's a possibility.

Q. Are you contemplating any other moves?

TAMAN: You're always contemplating moves and looking to get better. Our offensive line's been in a state of flux and with Joel Bell still there, we're looking at bringing one of those guys in. You could say we are.

Q. Is this a wakeup call for the team?

TAMAN: I don't believe it's a wakeup call. Guys aren't performing well and you've gotta make changes. I don't think it's a message or anything. If it's construed as that, so be it. I don't believe in that but when guys don't perform, you have to make changes.



Rider President Jim Hopson spoke about the hiring of Eric Tillman as GM of the Eskimos today:

HOPSON: Eric is a skilled, successful, experience GM in this league and his track record speaks for itself. The Eskimos obviously needed someone of his calibre and he was the best available and a good fit. I predicted there was a chance of this when they let Danny Macocia go. Good for Eric, good for his family and we wish him well. Just not when they play the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Q. The Eskimos didn't mind his legal problems, why did the Riders?

HOPSON: Our situation was entirely different. We've been living in that whole situation for a year. Eric was the person who resigned and we accepted. I think the circumstances are similar but at the end of the day, different. I think he deserved the opportunity.

Q. What do you say to those that think Eric could turn this team around better than the current regime?

HOPSON: You're only as good as your last game and we were pretty bad in our last game. There's no getting away from that and certainly our fans have become accustomed to success. Eric was a big part of that and the bar is high. They want us to win and we want to win. I've great confidence in Kenny and Brendan and the football team that we have here but clearly we have to get better. I believe we will. It's a natural reaction to how we've played in a few recent games but it's the still the same group of guys who got us to the Grey Cup last year. We've got a great core hear, but Kenny and Brendan have decided to make some changes. That's their job and I have every confidence that they'll continue to do that.