Mitchell Blair
The three words that Darian Durant used to sum up the Saskatchewan Roughrider season were “it was crushing.”
Durant discussed his rehab on his season-ending Achilles injury that he suffered late in the first half of the Riders opening game of the season. This was a cruel sign of things to come for the football team in the 2015 campaign. “Watching the team go through this each and every week and not being able to help. I really think I could have helped this team succeed this year and really sucks watching it, but it’s a learning experience and it humbled me. It just has me fired up for next year.”
Durant was looking forward to the 2015 season after seeing the team crumble following a season-ending elbow injury in the 2014 Labour Day Rematch. A team arguably ready to defend its 2013 Grey Cup title limp to the finish line under replacements Tino Sunseri, Seth Doege and Kerry Joseph before eventually bowing to the Edmonton Eskimos in the Western semi-final. With Durant back in the lineup, the expectations were high for the Green and White in 2015. As they get ready to finish what has been a nightmarish two win season in Montreal next Sunday, Durant feels the “rebuild” won’t be as big a mountain to climb if he can get back to doing what he does best and be an on and off the field leader going into 2016.
“I think everything is fixable,” Durant said with a chuckle. “If you look across the board, we have the talent as there are a lot of guys in that room that we have had success with. We suffered a lot of unfortunate injuries and it meant bringing in young guys coming in who didn’t know how to win those close games. We have had seven games that we have lost by four points or less so I think with experience we can win those games. I don’t see it being a major issue. If I can get in there and stay healthy, work with the guys on a consistent basis. I think we’ll be back at the top. I think I can get this team out of its slump and take this team to the next level. Every year that I have been the starter except 2011, we have had a shot at the Grey Cup and I think we can do that again next year.”
While that statement be of great ease to the Rider Nation who has endured a very tough season, Durant proclaimed that the year off which has made him hungry to get back on the field after having his 2014 season end early means the wear and tear is not there which may be one positive.
“I won’t be the same quarterback, I will be better,” Durant said. “I will be fine. My arm is stronger than it has ever been. There is no history of what I looked at from anybody not returning from an injury like this.
As for what the next step is in a rehab process that he says is a month ahead of schedule, Durant says there is nothing out of the ordinary and he is surprised at how well things have been going.
“I am!” Durant proclaimed. “You do the research about the injury and you look at guys who in the past have taken 10, 11,12 months to get back to form so I feel very positive in how things are going and I give a lot of credit to our training staff for getting me ready. Ivan (trainer Ivan Gutfriend) has had two Achilles himself so what better guy to be with than a guy who has been through it himself.
Durant plans on spending his winter in Saskatchewan continuing to work on getting his leg ready by performing some more explosive exercises while working with receivers like Weston Dressler so he is ready to go when the time comes to put the pads back on.
Whether or not Durant is ready to go for the first regular season game of 2016 is something that can’t be determined for a long time, it is safe to say the 33 year old is chomping at the bit to restore some pride in an organization that has had a rough few months without their leader on the field.
In a season full of negatives, the comments put out by the team’s franchise player on Monday is a major positive that the squad hopes to build on as they put an end to 2015 on Sunday in Montreal and start concentrating on the road back to respectability immediately after the final gun sounds.
