REGINA -- As with most things when it comes to the Canadian Football League, this is all something Saskatchewan Roughriders' quarterback Trevor Harris has been through before -- even if it’s something he’d rather not have any part of.
The veteran QB returns to the Riders line-up from injury when the Green and White take on the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium on Friday night. Even though it was only one game on the sidelines, that didn’t make things any easier when it came to watching his teammates take the field without him.
The good thing is not only has Harris fully recovered from his head injury and illness, he put his 13 years of CFL experience to good use in preparing for his return. And that’s something that has both himself and his teammates confident they won’t even skip a beat.
“Man, I’ve never done this before, I was a little nervous coming in,” Harris joked to start before getting down to business.
“I'm excited to be back in play. It's never fun sitting out, but no matter what role you play, you want to play to the best of your ability and make sure you demonstrate. Leadership is often influence and you want to be able to handle every situation well. After the shouting match with the docs last week, I settled down and found the role that I was being asked to play. I’m glad we were able to get a win and the guys were great.”
Harris had played well through the first three games of the season, putting up 806 yards passing while completing 58-of-80 passes, racking up five touchdowns against three interceptions. That was enough to get the Riders to a 3-0 record, and they improved to 4-0 with Harris sidelined and Jake Maier slotting in at pivot.
Harris was a full participant at practice from start to finish this past week, with the bye in Week 5 helping rid him of all the symptoms that were keeping him from going full tilt. One positive is that even with limited reps leading into Week 4, Harris was still able to put his time to good use -- something that’s a product of his veteran acumen.
“My first three years helped me the most in things like that,” Harris said, referring to the beginning of his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts.
“When I sat behind Ricky [Ray] and Zach [Collaros] we did ‘reps behind’ as quarterbacks. You do everything except release the football and you're able to get a great sense of timing. That's what I did [while injured] and you get a great sense of timing in your feet and how things work out, the decisions you'd make to see if you're reading defences correctly and seeing concepts. I took those very seriously, so it was kind of seamless.”
Harris isn’t the only member of the starting offence to miss time due to injuries this season, but Saskatchewan has still found a way to keep rolling on. That’s something Harris attributed to offensive coordinator Marc Mueller and talent cultivated by general manager Jeremy O’Day and the football operations staff.
“I think a lot of it is belief. I think Marc put together a system and the guys believe in it,” Harris said. “It trickles down to our leadership and position groups. No matter who steps in the huddle, we have a certain threshold and standard that we demand from one another and we expect greatness regardless of who's in that huddle. That's who we want to be as the Saskatchewan Roughriders.”
Once thing that’s certain is the Riders won’t be facing an easy task on Friday night. The Stampeders are off to a 3-1 start themselves and are the consensus number two in the CFL power rankings across the country behind the Riders. That should make for a barnburner of a contest when things kick off at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.
“It's about us becoming a better team through 60 minutes and trying to find a way to get a win because we know they're going to make it difficult for us,” Harris said. “And you know we're going to do the same and our fans will make it more difficult for them… it’s going to be a fun match-up. It's one that if I'm a CFL fan, I'd be itching for seven o'clock to get here to watch kickoff. It's going to be a fun one.”
Be sure to catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk, and Wes Cates at 4 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 7 p.m. You can hear and watch all the extensive coverage on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
