Lauther, Leonard inch closer to rejoining Riders

A few familiar faces are getting closer to returning to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ lineup.

The CFL team returned to practice Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium following its second bye week of the 2019 season. The Roughriders are riding a four-game winning streak, the most recent victory being a 17-10 win over the Alouettes in Montreal on Aug. 9.

When the Green and White faces the visiting Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday at 5 p.m., a few players could be off the injury list and on the roster.

Kicker Brett Lauther has been at practice for a few weeks but Tuesday’s practice marked the first time he has kicked in front of the public and media in weeks.

“I wouldn’t say I’m 100 per cent or anything but I feel like I can contribute to the team so that’s why I’m back,” Lauther said.

Lauther has missed five games since he played July 1 in a 32-7 win against the Toronto Argonauts.

He said he first suffered a groin injury on June 13 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Since then, Lauther said he suffered a couple of other minor injuries as he tried to play through the ailment.

“It got to a point where I couldn’t do anything at all, so I had to just put it in (the doctors’) hands (and) just try to let things heal up and get where they wanted,” Lauther said.

During his three games with the team in 2019, Lauther has hit on seven of eight field-goal attempts.

This isn’t the first roadblock the 28-year-old kicker has had to overcome in his CFL career.

He dressed for four games in 2013 with the Tiger-Cats but wouldn’t find his way back onto a CFL roster until 2018. Last season, Lauther hit on 58 of 64 field-goal attempts and was Saskatchewan’s nominee for the league award as most outstanding special-teams player.

“With everything that happened, it’s all just gravy,” Lauther said. “I didn’t think I’d be (in the CFL) in the first place and this (injury) was just one more thing. I knew I had to just lock in mentally and stay with it.

“Hopefully in a month or two or down the line, no one’s talking about this and everyone has forgotten about it.”

During Lauther’s absence, Gabriel Ferraro has handled the Roughriders’ kicking duties. Ferraro has made seven of nine field-goal tries.

Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson was Lauther’s special teams co-ordinator last season. Dickenson said he knows it was tough for Lauther to wait on the sidelines to get healthy.

“Brett really wants to be out there. He misses his teammates and contributing to the team,” Dickenson said. “When you’re injured, you feel like an outsider. It’s a tough spot to be in.”

Despite the team going into the bye week after a win, Dickenson said nothing changes for the coaches from when they entered their first bye following a 37-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on July 6.

“That’s the one message we try to give the players right from the get-go,” Dickenson said. “We’re going to be consistent in how we coach and our expectation level regardless of wins or losses.”

The Roughriders could get A.C. Leonard back sooner than expected. The defensive end was put on the six-game injured list with a shoulder injury suffered during practice on Aug. 6. The team pulled him from the list Tuesday.

“Leonard bounced back a lot quicker than we expected and if he’s good to go (Saturday), we’ll play him. If not, we feel like we’ve got good depth there,” Dickenson said.

Defensive end Earl Okine started in place of Leonard against the Alouettes. In that contest, Okine had a fumble recovery that he returned 55 yards for a touchdown.

While Lauther and Leonard may be on the verge of returning to Saskatchewan’s lineup, other regulars aren’t.

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson is still not practising due to an ankle injury, and guard Brendon LaBatte continues to recover from the hip surgery he underwent during training camp.

The Green Zone pre-game show gets underway Saturday at 3 p.m.