Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders will have one of their best receivers back in action against the B.C. Lions on Saturday night.
Samuel Emilus has been added to the depth chart after missing the last three games with a foot injury.
‘It’s been tough (to miss games) but we also understand it’s a long season and we have to be smart,’ explained Emilus who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
Emilus started strong this year with eight catches, 133-yards and a touchdown against Ottawa in Week 1. He then was hurt late in the second game of the season with a foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup ever since.
In his stead, the Riders have seen breakout games by Dohnte Meyers and last week it was Joe Robustelli.
“Guys have been stepping up. Every week it might be somebody different stepping up,” stated Emilus.
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“We’ve just seen with Joe (Robustelli), almost 200-yards. (This week) It ain’t going to be no different. We already know somebody is going to step up for this game.”
Emilus isn’t the only starter making his return.
Defensive back Tevaughn Campbell is back in at his corner position after missing last week’s loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
Campbell was bothered by a groin injury suffered three weeks ago against B.C. In that game, Campbell also scored his first touchdown as a Roughrider, returning an interception for a touchdown to help clinch a 37-18 win over the B.C. Lions.
It’s not all good on the injury front for the Roughriders
The Riders will have to make another shift along the offensive line with Daniel Johnson being unable to go with shoulder injury. In his place, Darius Washington will make his CFL debut.
The Riders signed Washington a month ago after he spent sometime at an NFL rookie camp.
The Riders will also be without Mario Alford. The dynamic kick returner missed the second half of last week’s game with a hip injury so Drae McCray will be another Roughrider making his CFL debut.
McCray told reporters this week he’s been waiting for this moment after having a strong training camp and preseason to make the practice roster out of camp.
“It would mean a lot just being a professional football player in general,” said McCray. “But being able to play and go out there and represent what this team means and what this fan base is all about, it would mean a lot.”
Another notable return for the Roughriders is defensive lineman Caleb Sanders. While he doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, with just two tackles this season, Sanders is a big part of the defensive line rotation that started the season strong in stopping the run.
With Sanders in the interior rotation, the Riders only allowed 45.3 yards per game along the ground. In the two games without him, the team has allowed over 130 yard per game along the ground.
To make room, the Roughriders have taken defensive end and special teams player Aaron Patrick off the roster.
Other notes: Tommy Nield will make his Roughriders debut in the receiving corps after missing the first five games with an ankle injury. To make room for Nield and Emilus, Canadian receivers Mitch Picton and D’Sean Mimbs have been dropped off the game day roster. Antoine Brooks Jr is also off the roster with the return of Tevaughn Campbell.
