Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver Shawn Bane Jr. felt the statements made by head coach Corey Mace on Tuesday were deserved.
"We probably needed to be screamed at a little bit. Sometimes it takes that just for you to get refocused. Sometimes depending on the moment in your life, you need a refocus, and that was just one for the team," Bane Jr. "Thank God he did take us inside because the words weren't too pleasant, but again, we needed to refocus, and I think we did exactly that."
According to Bane Jr., Mace's words lit a fire under the team Tuesday when he stopped the practice on two separate occasions, which helped them revise the team's approach.
"Just good energy," Bane Jr. said. "You could tell everybody was gonna come in and focus today."
Mace stated he could not be more proud of his team and how they responded at practice on Wednesday.
"Exactly how I figured, excellent practice," Mace said. Right from meetings, everything was on point."
Bane Jr. is hungry to play again after coming off the bye week knowing his team needed the rest.
"That bye week was very timely,"Bane Jr. said. "I'm hungry. We're all hungry and I know you'll see it on game day."
The five-foot-nine, 178-pound receiver is in his second year with the Riders. This year Bane Jr. has been targeted 70 times with 46 balls resulting in receptions for 546 yards plus five touchdowns in 12 games. Bane Jr. knows Saskatchewan's remaining five games are important, four coming against West Division teams.
"Every game is going to be a playoff atmosphere, plain and simple," Bane Jr. said. "We have to bring it game after game, we can't let any slip."
The Roughriders are playing a must-win game against the Calgary Stampeders and need a victory to realistically control their playoff fate. Mace has ties to the Stamps since he was with the team as a player 2010 to 2015 and later as a coach 2016 to 2021.
"Great people over there," Mace said. "I look forward to seeing those people and having those conversations that are not always over text messages."
On a personal note, Mace is also excited to see his in-laws and perhaps go to a favourite restaurant that his taste buds miss.
The Riders play Friday as the team takes on the Stampeders. Countdown to Kickoff starts at 4:30 p.m. with Justin Dunk and Wes Cates. Kickoff goes at 7:30 p.m. live on 620 CKRM from McMahon Stadium with Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder.
