Only KeeSean Johnson was the sole starting receiver practising with the first-team offence on Monday as the Saskatchewan Roughriders dealt with a wave of injuries. Despite the depleted lineup, head coach Corey Mace downplayed concerns about the team's offensive personnel for Friday's CFL game against the Ottawa Redblacks.
Injury updates and practice absences
Starting receivers Samuel Emilus (ankle), Kian Schaffer-Baker (oblique) and Jaylen Johnson (shoulder) were sidelined Monday. Emilus hurt his ankle while returning a punt in the absence of return specialist James Letcher (elbow), who was injured early in Friday's game and did not practise. Schaffer-Baker and Johnson did not appear injured in Friday's 40-34 loss to the Toronto Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium. The Roughriders were also without slotback Dhel Duncan-Busby (shoulder) from the previous game.
Second-year veteran D’Sean Mimbs and rookies Daniel Wiebe, Matthew Sexton and Johnny Johnson filled in, catching passes from starting quarterback Trevor Harris. Wiebe and Sexton would likely handle most return duties in Letcher's absence. The new injuries were included in Saskatchewan's daily report on cfl.ca.
Coach Mace downplays concerns
“I wouldn’t put too much weight into today’s rotation,” Mace said. “For the most part we got pretty good news on the injury standpoint, so we’ll see how the week progresses. No matter who we have to put out there, it’s good for everybody to get reps.”
“Nobody’s super long-term,” added Mace. “No season-endings, which is awesome.”
Running back situation
Quali Conley, who carried eight times for 50 yards and a touchdown in his CFL debut Friday, and veteran Thomas Bertrand-Hudon shared time at running back while starter A.J. Ouellette (ankle) was a limited participant.
Quarterback Trevor Harris remained unfazed. “We don’t know what’s going on roster-wise. It’s early in the week. We’ll kind of see how it sorts out. I don’t know why everybody’s making such a big thing of this. Last year we lost (Emilus and Schaffer-Baker) for the whole season, essentially.”
Defensive and team outlook
Safety Nelson Lokombo (ankle) may be ready to return from the injury list. Saskatchewan holds a 2-1 record, while Ottawa is 0-3.
