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Defensive end Aaron Patrick was one of the few first-year CFLers to make the Saskatchewan Roughriders active roster. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

Riders’ Patrick excited to be back on the field after year not playing

By Britton Gray Jun 3, 2025 | 4:12 PM

Aaron Patrick was out of football for all of 2024.

Now the defensive end is back on the gridiron as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“Just even at the start of camp, I came back and did rookie camp and training camp — the first day of that felt great just to be back doing something you love and being able to work towards something with a group of guys who are working towards something even bigger,” Patrick said.

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The 28-year-old product of Dayton, Ohio, was one of the few newcomers this season to be named to the CFL club’s active roster straight out of training camp. Patrick comes with some NFL experience, spending time on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad (2020-21) and the Denver Broncos (2021-22).

But while he will be tasked with chasing down opposing quarterbacks as a member of the defensive line rotation, it was his work on special teams that really helped him shine throughout training camp for the Riders.

“If you watched any of his special teams stuff, there aren’t a lot of people in our league who can do that,” Riders head coach Corey Mace said. “Size, speed, will, strength — it’s going to be fun to watch him.”

Patrick admitted that special teams is super important in the game of football.

“It’s one of the phases of the game and all three phases of the game matter,” Patrick said.

“I feel like you find your niche and you try to excel at it in football. A long, long time ago, when I first started playing professional football, I remember I got the chance to run down on kickoff whenever I was with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I realized a lot of people my size aren’t really willing to run that fast and run that hard and go down and hit somebody in the face. Once I figured out that that was something I was good at and able to do, I’ll do whatever I need to do to put that on film for the team and help us move forward.”

After playing in two preseason games, Patrick will get his first chance to play in front of a regular-season crowd at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday. The Riders will host the Ottawa Redblacks to kick off the 2025 CFL season. Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show will begin at 5 p.m.

“I can’t wait to see the crowd. I know this is a football area and they love football and we love that we get the opportunity to put everything we worked on on display,” Patrick said.

Avery, Brammer questionable, Ford ruled out

The final injury report of the week came out for the Riders ahead of the game against Ottawa.

Offensive lineman Jacob Brammer (back) and linebacker C.J. Avery (ankle) are questionable for the game. Safety Jaxon Ford (hand) was ruled out for the game. Also ruled out was fullback Albert Awachie (hip), defensive lineman Charbel Dabire (knee), wide receiver Tommy Nield (ankle), offensive lineman Brayden Noll (head) and defensive back Kosi Onyeka (knee).