Trevor Harris was leading the CFL in touchdown passes when his 2024 season was interrupted by a knee injury.
He proceeded to lead the league in impatience.
“The first few weeks, I was physically sick to my stomach,” Harris said after the Saskatchewan Roughriders practised on Monday at Mosaic Stadium. “I physically was ill that I couldn’t play.
“It was one of those things where I felt I was really getting into a good rhythm. We were starting to become really, really potent offensively, so ‘itching to get back’ would be quite an understatement.”
Harris was cleared last week to resume practising. The limited time between games allowed for only one full workout before the Roughriders faced the host Ottawa REDBLACKS on Thursday.
Shea Patterson made his sixth successive start at quarterback for Saskatchewan, which played to a 22-22 overtime tie at TD Place.
Now the Green and White has a conventional week of preparation leading up to Friday’s matchup with the Montreal Alouettes (7 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
On Monday, Harris and Patterson both received repetitions with the first-team offence. Head Coach Corey Mace will pay close attention to the proceedings in the days ahead before deciding whether Harris will be activated from the six-game injured list.
“We’ll see,” Mace said. “Nothing’s promised. There’s definitely a shot for that, but ultimately I’ll make that decision by the end of the week.
“If it makes sense for him to be the guy this week, then we’ll look to that. If it’s maybe another week that he needs, we’ll do what’s best for the team.”
Harris injured his left knee near halftime on June 23 against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He fell to the turf moments after throwing a pass to running back A.J. Ouellette.
“I landed on my side, and there was a gap between the ground and my knee,” Harris recalled. “(An opponent’s) whole body weight landed on the outside of my knee and it just clicked in. I felt the pop.
“There’s a difference between something like when you roll your ankle versus a ligament-type pop. I felt that, and I’ve felt that before.
“When I stood up, I felt the looseness in my knee and I felt unstable, so I knew something was wrong. It was just a matter of whether it was going to be stable enough in the doctor’s opinion for me to be able to play in the game. They said no.
“I said, ‘Let me just put a brace on it and see how it feels.’ I went up to Mace and said, ‘I’m good to go.’ He said, ‘No, you’re not. The doctor just told me no.’ It was one of those things where I tried to pull a fast one, but they were a step ahead of me.”
At the time of the injury, Harris had 872 aerial yards and seven touchdown passes in 2½ games.
He proceeded to immerse himself in rehabilitation while working closely with Greg Mayer (the Roughriders’ head athletic therapist) and Jake Kozens (of ARPneuro, which provides electrical stimulation therapy).
“They did a great job of working in unison to get me back,” Harris said. “They kept saying it was quicker than they thought, but it was slower than I thought.”
It was reassuring to know that the injury would not be a season-ender.
“By the grace of God, I’m just thankful that it wasn’t worse,” Harris said. “It wasn’t a full tear in the ACL and it wasn’t a complete rupture of the MCL. It was a significant one, but it’s one of those things where it healed and it’s rock-solid now.
“Now it’s just a matter of getting myself back into rhythm and making sure I’m putting the team in a situation where I’m not compromising the team.”
Like Harris, Ouellette was listed as a full participant in Monday’s practice. Frankie Hickson has been the featured ball-carrier for the past three games in place of Ouellette, who was sidelined with a hip injury.
“Just having him out here (at practice) is a heck of a start,” Mace said. “It’s trending in the right direction. But with how (physically) he plays, we’re looking at the long term.
“Frankie has been excellent for us. It’s a luxury if (Ouellette) is available to us. If it makes sense for him and his body, we’ll give him some love. If it’s Frankie or if it’s both, we’ve got a little bit of flexibility.”
More good news arrived on Monday when middle linebacker Jameer Thurman resumed practising, albeit to a limited degree. He missed last week’s game with an elbow injury.
“It’s excellent for us to have Thurm out there,” Mace said. “He’s ready to rock. I know he was itching and trying to text people or something during the game. It was like, ‘Hey, everybody’s busy right now, Thurm.’
“He loves being out there and we love having him.”
