SASKATOON — Four games served as foreshadowing.
That is the declaration from Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Dohnte Meyers, who had 24 receptions for 349 yards and one touchdown in four CFL contests last year.
“I feel like that was a little spoiler,” he said with a smile, “but the real movie’s going to be this year.”
Meyers caught eight passes for 101 yards in each of his first two games. He followed up with a three-catch, 61-yard performance before making five receptions for 86 yards against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 1.
Also in the Labour Day Classic, he scored his first CFL touchdown — on an 18-yard pass from Trevor Harris — before encountering a shoulder issue.
“I had a season-ending injury, so that’s adversity,” said Meyers, 24, a Delta State University grad who hails from Duluth, Ga.
“Time away from the game is tough because, as athletes, you love to play the game. Getting back to 100 per cent, getting back healthy, it takes time and it’s just mentally hard.
“I’m just glad to be back and do my part and get this team to finish the job. To be back out here and put the pads back on and be with the guys, it means everything. That’s what you train for.”
Meyers arrived at his second Coors Light Training Camp with CFL career stats of 24 catches for 349 yards.
Extrapolate those numbers over a full 18-game schedule and it works out to — get this — 108 catches for 1,571 yards.
Keep in mind that Meyers is accustomed to playing a full season, despite the misfortunes of 2024.
“I hadn’t been hurt since my sophomore year of high school, so that (shoulder injury) was really, really tough to go through,” he said. “But it’s part of the game. Although you don’t want to deal with it, you have to.
“I feel like it made me a better man, a better person and a better teammate, and you’re going to see that better person this year for the Riders.”
That was evident on Wednesday, when Meyers made a contested catch of a Trevor Harris pass for a long touchdown in a 12-on-12 exercise.
PLAY(S) OF THE DAY
Corey Mace lauded the consistent effectiveness of fifth-year Roughriders receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker.
“I thought Schaff had a really good day,” the Roughriders’ Head Coach said after Wednesday’s workout at Griffiths Stadium. “He had a good day yesterday, too.”
With that in mind, Mace asked Schaffer-Baker to break down the team after a spirited midweek practice that included an officiating crew of three.
Other highlights from Wednesday:
• Harris threw deep TD passes to Meyers (referenced earlier) and KeeSean Johnson in a “skelly” (linemen excluded) session.
• In 12-on-12, Samuel Emilus made a leaping grab of a Harris aerial in tight coverage near the right sideline.
• Three plays later, Jake Maier found Joe Robustelli over the middle for his third TD in a span of two practices.
• The defensive display in 12-on-12 was highlighted by Antoine Brooks Jr.’s latest interception-return TD, back-to-back pass knockdowns by Marcus Sayles, a pass breakup by DaMarcus Fields, and the dogged run pursuit of defensive end Malik Carney and linebacker C.J. Avery.
INJURY UPDATE
Sean McEwen, a three-time All-CFL centre, missed Wednesday’s session due to a leg injury.
“There’s no real update yet,” Mace said. “We’re going to get more eyes to it to kind of get a better idea.
“It’s nothing that we’re super-stressed about. We just need to get a little more information.”
McEwen joined the Roughriders as a free agent in February after being a member of the Toronto Argonauts (2016 to 2019) and Calgary Stampeders (2020 to 2024).
