For the past five weeks, Mic’hael Brooks has been waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
He believes it did Sunday, when he signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I was just sitting around, working out and waiting for a call,” the 26-year-old defensive lineman said Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium, where he practised for the first time with the Roughriders. “I had interest from a couple of different teams, but I was just trying to wait for the right fit.”
Brooks spent the previous three seasons with the B.C. Lions, but they released him May 18. He returned to his hometown of Durham, N.C., and began preparing for the 2018 season — even though he didn’t have a team.
The 6-foot-3, 285-pounder out of East Carolina University had NFL stints with the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks before signing with B.C. in May of 2015.
Brooks played 43 games over three regular seasons with B.C., recording 83 tackles, five sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. His most productive season was 2015, when he had 44 tackles, three sacks and a pick en route to being named a West Division all-star.
His numbers tumbled in the past two seasons, however, and he was released prior to training camp this year.
“In B.C., I got told to do a couple different things than I was doing in ’15,” Brooks explained. “The way Coach (Chris) Jones coaches, he’s going to let us play and hopefully I can get back to that.”
Having seen friends and former teammates like Willie Jefferson and A.C. Leonard thrive in Jones’ defence, Brooks was eager to join the Roughriders after they called.
Jones — Saskatchewan’s head coach and general manager — said the Roughriders are “looking for 20 plays” from Brooks in the rotation at defensive tackle. That’s similar to the approach the team took last season when since-released Nick James was trying to work his way into shape.
“Two or three years ago, (Brooks) was one of the top guys in the league at the position,” Jones said. “We always file those away. He came at the right price and we were able to get a very good player who wanted an opportunity to show that he still had some game.”
It’s unclear if Brooks will play Saturday when Saskatchewan plays host to the Montreal Alouettes, but he’ll attempt over the coming days to get his legs back.
“I didn’t get a chance to go to training camp or anything like that, so I’m just trying to get as many reps as I can,” Brooks said. “If (Jones) wants me up, then I’ll be up and if not, I won’t. I’m just trying to find my place.”
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Marcus Thigpen was back on the practice field with the Roughriders on Tuesday and Jones said the tailback/returner will be on the roster for Saturday’s game.
Thigpen missed the Roughriders’ first two regular-season games while serving a CFL-imposed two-game suspension for a positive PED test. Jerome Messam and Tre Mason handled the tailback duties in Thigpen’s absence.
“He’s probably one of the top-five fastest guys in the league,” Jones said when asked what Thigpen brings to the table. “He’s able to return, he’s able to play receiver, he’s able to play running back, he’s tough and he adds a lot to our special teams.
“He’s a dangerous player.”
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Jones has faced Ricky Ray many times during their CFL careers and the two men also were employed by the Toronto Argonauts at the same time in 2012 and ’13.
On Tuesday, Jones was in a reflective mood after seeing the Argos’ quarterback suffer a suspected neck injury during Toronto’s loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday.
“That was really scary,” Jones said. “Certainly when we’re competing against each other, I want my guys to get to him, get him on the ground and hit him hard. But (it’s tough to see) when something like that happens to somebody who you’ve won a Grey Cup with, who even when you play against him you respect him.
“I texted him and he texted back and I told him me and Mac (former Argos assistant coach and current Roughriders offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo) were thinking about him and praying for him. He’s a really good dude, man.”
After being sandwiched between Stamps defensive linemen Ja’Gared Davis and Cordarro Law, Ray remained down on the BMO Field turf. The game was stopped for more than 15 minutes as medical personnel tended to him before removing him from the field on a stretcher.
In a statement issued Monday, the Argos reported that Ray had been released from hospital and was recovering at home. They added that the 38-year-old pivot would “miss significant time this season due to the injury.”
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According to a report, the CFL and the CFL Players’ Association have agreed to eliminate mini-camps.
The move was rumoured to be on the table after the league recently approved regulations that were designed to lower non-player football expenses. Those measures include a cap on the number of football operations staff a team can employ and the total compensation permitted for those people.
The Roughriders have held mini-camps in Florida in recent years at which quarterbacks and CFL rookies ply their trade.
“It’s the league’s prerogative to do whatever they decide that they want to do,” Jones said. “We’ll adhere to whatever the rules are because they apply to everybody.”
