Heavy hearts will be omnipresent when the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Edmonton Elks on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n
The team returned to practice on Monday following Sunday’s whirlwind news that involved linebacker and team captain Jayden Dalke passing away in a car accident just outside of Lumsden. Another round of emotions followed after more details were released from the police investigation, confirming Dalke was in the vehicle that drove into the wrong lane, killing himself, and\u00a022-year-old Regina resident Bhishma Rajyaguru on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
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Roughriders share statement on Bhishma Rajyaguru<\/p>\n
Reaction poured in to start the week following Monday’s flood of police reports, the Roughriders sharing tributes to Dalke on Sunday<\/a> and Monday<\/a>, before sharing a statement in remembrance<\/a> for\u00a0Rajyaguru on Tuesday once all the details had been released.<\/p>\n “We are profoundly saddened by the loss of 22-year-old Regina resident Bhishma Rajyaguru on Saturday,” opened the statement.<\/p>\n “In speaking with one of Bhishma\u2019s loved ones, he shared with us that he was a caring friend, a devoted son, a supportive brother, and someone who was always there for the people in his life. A gifted percussionist with a deep love of music, Bhishma\u2019s passion and presence left a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Our hearts are with his family, friends, and all those mourning his loss. We also hold in our thoughts everyone who is supporting those affected during this incredibly difficult time.”<\/p>\n The Roughriders also announced plans to honour\u00a0Bhishma as part of their pre-game ceremony on Thursday, saying they are working with family as best they can to support them.<\/p>\n Coach Mace speaks on situation<\/p>\n Roughriders head coach Corey Mace spoke to media after practice on Monday, talking about the situation after the details of what transpired were released.<\/p>\n “Lots of waves of emotion for a lot of people.”<\/p>\n Any head coach needs to embrace his role as a leader of men, Mace later sharing how he addressed the team regarding the tragic news.<\/p>\n “It was a tough day (Sunday). I’m not sure how many guys knew before we talked about it in the team meeting. Addressed the captains about a half-hour prior to the team meeting,” said Mace. “We’ve been preaching a lot of empathy, people being themselves. It was a difficult room to be in, but I think the right people to be around for something like that.”<\/p>\n With a game to prepare for, Mace did his best to describe how he was handling his job this week. He reminded the media that with the schedule of a football team, there really was no time to mourn.<\/p>\n “You try to find a little bit of normalcy in what we do,” said Mace. “There is a game to be played. It’s a big one, and we spoke about how anybody that knows Jayden Dalke, how he would probably approach the situation.”<\/p>\n Hear the rest of coaches’ comments on the official team website as Mace continued for about four more minutes during the July 20 media appearance<\/a>, before speaking to media again on Tuesday<\/a> with a little more on the game at hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n Players hitting the field with heavy hearts\u00a0<\/p>\n Coaching will be on thing on Thursday, but the 45 players on each side of the field will be having to battle through their own emotions while playing at a high level.<\/p>\n Fellow team captain and quarterback Trevor Harris<\/a> says he didn’t become aware of the situation until arriving to practice on Sunday, the meeting with Mace confirming the tragedy. The somber situation was a first for the experienced CFL pivot.<\/p>\n “I haven’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader,” said Harris talking about the influence leadership can have. “Ultimately, you have to push on. It’s not what we want to do. We want to mourn and shut down, but ultimately, we ask ‘what would Jayden do’.”<\/p>\n Harris knew Dalke from the captain’s room, unlike Roughriders linebacker and fellow captain Jameer Thurman<\/a> who is a leader on the Roughriders defense. Holding back emotions, Thurman learned about the news upon entering the linebacker room in preparation for the week ahead.<\/p>\n “Very unfortunate. But I know he would want us to keep doing what we have been doing. Go out there and play for him, but play for ourselves for sure. He will always be a part of our family and we love him.” said the CFL veteran.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another member of the linebacker room, Nick Wiebe<\/a>, and Roughriders GM Jeremy O’Day<\/a> also spoke to the media on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n First place showdown\u00a0<\/p>\n You don’t need to hear it from the head coach to know Thursday’s game is a big one. The Roughriders are 4-1 on the season to sit second place in the CFL West Division behind the 5-1 Elks who have been the CFL’s biggest early season surprise.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan’s offense has picked up right where it left off in 2025 with quarterback Trevor Harris and receivers KeeSean Johnson and Kian Schaffer Baker all among league leaders in their respective categories. The defense has a different look but has been impressive as well with free agent signing James Vaughters leading the team in sacks at four in five games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Elks are led by former Roughriders starting quarterback, Cody Fajardo, who has had a strong season so far helping lead the Elks early season charge. Fajardo is averaging just under 300 yards per game on 70 per cent passing, carrying a TD\/INT ratio of 9:4. The Elks biggest playmaker on offense has been running back Justin Rankin who has 865 yards combined on the year between rushing and receiving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thursday night’s Week 8 opener is going to be a late one at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, kicking off at 7:00 PM before the game is played under the prairie night sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heavy hearts will be omnipresent when the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Edmonton Elks on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-819228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}