SASKATOON — He's adjusting to a new team and new offence but Jake Wieneke doesn't have to worry about developing a chemistry with his quarterback.
Wieneke is in his first training camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the team he signed with in the off-season as a free agent. But also in Saskatchewan is quarterback Trevor Harris, Wieneke's close friend and teammate the past two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes.
The two were also roommates on road trips with the Alouettes.
"It's so fun just getting to share this with Trevor, a great friend and mentor of mine," Wieneke told reporters this week. "He helps me grow as a man on and off the field every single day."
Wieneke, 28, registered 142 catches for 2,056 yards and 21 TDs over three seasons with Montreal. But the six-foot-four, 215-pound American had 45 receptions for 589 yards and two touchdowns in 16 regular-season games last year.
Wieneke was the East Division's top rookie in 2019 (41 catches, 569 yards, eight TDs) and a CFL all-star in '21 (56 receptions, 898 yards, 11 touchdowns). The rapport Wieneke has with Harris should make for an easier transition in Saskatchewan but he can also give his new teammates pointers regarding their quarterback.
"First of all, he (Harris) is so easy to play with because he throws such a great ball," Wieneke said. "He throws such a catchable ball right where it needs to be and as a receiver we can just trust that.
"So if he's throwing us in a certain spot, throwing us open or throwing us away from the defender, we can just trust that and turn upfield. I think just being able to stress that to the other guys so now … they can trust it and they know."
Wieneke isn't the only new face in Saskatchewan's receiving corps.
Derel Walker — who also played with Harris in Edmonton in '21 before Harris was dealt to Montreal — and Canadian Juwan Brescacin, who spent last season with the Grey Cup-champion Toronto Argonauts — both signed with the Riders as free agents. So did Shawn Bane Jr., who played 13 regular-season games over two seasons with the Calgary Stampeders.
Wieneke feels a strength of the Riders' receiving corps is each player brings a different dynamic to the offence.
"We've got a lot of types of receivers (who) do a lot of things well," he said. "I think we'll complement each other really well also."
Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson likes the experience many of the Riders' receivers have.
"A lot of experience, a lot of veteran presence," Dickenson said. "I think they're starting to click a little bit with Trevor.
"One of the main things in camp is we're going to try and develop chemistry with that group."
But Dickenson said it's important the Riders also monitor the receivers' workload during training camp.
"That's the one group that if you have to take it easy on them (you do)," Dickenson said. "They run full speed every play for probably 40 yards."
And despite the many new faces in camp, Wieneke feels the Riders' receivers have already started developing a chemistry.
"We've already got really close," he said. "The cool thing about football, you put in so much work and you work so hard with these guys, you start to build these relationships that go so much more beyond the football field."
Although he's just entering his fourth CFL season, Wieneke feels he has developed into a leader, a role he relishes assuming with Saskatchewan.
"I still feel like I just got into the league but I mean it's my fourth season now so (I'm) definitely more of a veteran," he said. "It's fun to just be able to coach up some of the younger guys and just lean on them and be there to encourage them.
"Especially those days when camp starts getting long and starts getting tough and things don't go our way and our bodies are hurting. Just continue to encourage them and build them up and keep on teaching them the best I can."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023.
The Canadian Press
