HEAD COACH DAVE DICKENSON ON DEFENSIVE CHALLENGES:

“I think a lot of things they do is predicated off the run, it’s a lot of play action, quick throws, and a lot of receivers coming across the ball motion late and getting open. You can’t really focus on one guy with Ottawa, they’ve got just as many weapons as anybody and they’re playing really well … Our D will have their hands full.”

DICKENSON ON THE DIFFERENCE IN PREPARATIONS THIS YEAR:

“One of the main things, we came in yesterday and wanted to get a better feel for this field. And even though our guys are a little apprehensive because we had some slipping and falling, and ultimately a little bit of a nick of an injury, I think it was the right move because we needed to get into the locker-room and get situated … And I do think it can pay dividends, I’m not going to say it was the greatest chess move in the world but it was something we’ve done differently. And I’ve done a few other things (differently) as far as our schedule, but it’s still a football game … You’ve got to go out there and out play the other team … so you can switch things up, and do this and that but I think it still comes down to one-on-one battles and who can win them”

BO LEVI MITCHELL ON THE TURF AT COMMONWEALTH:

“Not great, it’s pretty hard, it’s pretty slick … Both teams have got to play on it, either way, no matter how good or bad it is, you’d hope it would change by the game – that it’s nicer, to let the actual teams play it out … but no matter what, we’re going to go out and give it everything we’ve got.”

MITCHELL ON CHEMISTRY WITH RECEIVERS:

“Everybody that’s playing I’ve built chemistry with either recently or in the past. I’m excited about the guys we have in, we wouldn’t be putting them in if we didn’t think they were prepared and ready to go, and they weren’t the best group so go … We’ve worked a lot together and we’ve been talking a lot, and we’re going to continue to do that up until game time.”

ON FORMER TEMMATES REACHING OUT TO MITCHELL:

“Rob Cote, Keon Raymond, Deron Mayo and guys like that (have been) just texting me like ‘hey man, go finish the thing’. When you get text from an ex-teammate like that, a friend, it’s kind of their way of saying go get it done for us, too. So I think it’s good to get those texts, I like to hear from my old friends and know that we can go out there and help them out, too.”

Bo Levi Mitchell during walk through Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. (Photo by Candice Ward)

DEFENSIVE BACK BRANDON SMITH ON HIS ADVICE TO YOUNGER DBs:

“We just usually try to talk about not letting the Grey Cup be bigger than the actual game, if that makes sense. It’s just another game, (even though) it’s the last game of the year, and it’s the championship game. When you think about all the distractions that come along with the event it can get a bit bigger than what the game should be. The main thing is to just go out there, and do the same procedures that you do before every other game.”

BAKARI GRANT ON PLAYING IN THE GREY CUP:

“I’m extremely excited. Coming into the week I didn’t know if was playing in the Grey Cup, but I was still excited to be here to help the team out. This is why we play sports, so where’s a better place to be?”