Notebook: Marc-Olivier Brouillette thumbs his nose at an injury

Marc-Olivier Brouillette suffered a bad break just two games into his CFL comeback, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders safety isn’t ready to cast aside his football career.

Brouillette injured his right thumb on the second series of the Roughriders’ game Sept. 29 against the host Ottawa Redblacks. He thought it was just a sprain, so he played on — only to find out after the game that he had broken a bone at the base of his thumb.

The 31-year-old product of Montreal had a cast put on his right hand and he played with the plaster in Saturday’s game against the Toronto Argonauts.

Brouillette signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent in February, but retired on the eve of training camp to concentrate on his career as a lawyer in Montreal. On Sept. 20, however, Brouillette reported to the Roughriders to help them down the stretch — and suffering an injury in his second game isn’t making him second-guess his decision.

“I’m still having a great time — and I’m hurt, not injured,” Brouillette said after Tuesday’s closed practice at Mosaic Stadium, where the Roughriders are to entertain the Redblacks on Friday. “I haven’t missed a snap because of it and I don’t plan on missing a snap.

“It’s something that right now is outside of my control, so there’s no point wasting time or focus on it. It’s just about continuing to progress and learning to play with my teammates.”

Not surprisingly, the cast is causing some issues for Brouillette in both of his chosen professions.

As a football player, his ball skills have diminished.

“I had a shot at an interception today, but I was only able to reach with one hand,” he said. “There’s a self-preservation mechanism inside of me that, especially in a practice scenario, I’m not necessarily ready to reach out with both hands.

“But having played with (the cast) against Toronto, when the lights are on, I don’t even think about it. I just play at full speed as if I had two fully functional hands.”

As a lawyer, Brouillette also is facing challenges.

When he’s not working with the Roughriders, he’s trying to keep up on his legal work, so that requires spending time on his computer. That means typing, which isn’t easy with a cast.

“It’s not too bad,” Brouillette said with a grin. “I wasn’t a great typist in the first place. I didn’t have textbook technique, so I still get by pretty well on the computer.

“Things take a little longer, but I take that into account when I’m charging clients for my time.”

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According to the CFL transaction wire, the Roughriders put three players on the six-game injured list Tuesday and removed two others.

Linebackers Sam Eguavoen and Otha Foster III were put on the list, as was quarterback Marquise Williams. Safety Mike Edem (who missed the Roughriders’ past three games) and defensive end A.C. Leonard (who missed the contest in Toronto) were taken off the list.

Saskatchewan also announced Tuesday that it had released international defensive tackle T.J. Barnes and national offensive lineman Ryan White.

Meanwhile, the CFL’s trade deadline arrives Wednesday.

While there has been a lot of talk about teams moving assets — Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros is among those who might be on the move — Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones isn’t sure how active his team will be prior to the deadline.

“It has been kind of quiet so far,” he said. “We’ll see if people start calling.”

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With CFL teams allowed to expand their practice rosters in October, the Roughriders have signed six players.

Wide receiver Joshua Stanford returns to the Roughriders after being released June 20. Saskatchewan’s eighth-round draft pick (62^nd overall) out of Kansas in 2016, the 23-year-old product of Mississauga, Ont., had three catches for 59 yards in four games in 2016.

Ja’Juan Story is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver who played at Texas Christian. The 26-year-old from Brooksville, Fla., began his college career by redshirting at Florida.

Defensive back Melvin White, 27, hails from Freeport, Texas. A 6-foot-1, 215-pounder out of Louisiana-Lafayette, White played 15 regular-season games in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers.

Defensive back Taylor Mays is a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder out of USC who was named a first-team All-American in three straight seasons (2007-09).

The 29-year-old product of Irving, Texas, was selected in the second round (49^th overall) of the 2010 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He went on to play 80 regular-season games between 2010 and ’15 with the 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders.

Defensive lineman Charles Walker is a 22-year-old from Garland, Texas. The 6-foot-2, 310-pounder played collegiately at Oklahoma before signing as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Quarterback David Watford is a 24-year-old from Hampton, Va., who started his NCAA career at Virginia before transferring to Hampton. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder had an NFL stint with Philadelphia, which used him as a receiver during training camp.

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The Roughriders can clinch a playoff spot this week, provided that things play out a certain way.

If Saskatchewan beats Ottawa and if the B.C. Lions lose to the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, the Roughriders will wrap up at least a crossover berth into the East Division playoffs.

The playoff scenario is the furthest thing from Jones’ mind.

“We can’t worry about all that,” he said. “We need to worry about playing good football and all of that takes care of itself.

“We have not played good football in three or four weeks. We’ve played just good enough to win the games and we need to play better in all three phases.”

Saskatchewan has won two straight games (18-17 over Ottawa on Sept. 29 and 27-24 over Toronto on Saturday) to move closer to its first playoff berth since 2014.