Most of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ players spent Sunday’s intermission in the dressing room.
Jayden Dalke was in the hospital.
The 29-year-old defensive back and special teams standout returned to Mosaic Stadium early in the third quarter and contributed to a 34-30 CFL victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 60th Labour Day Classic.
He had left the game midway through the second quarter.
“On one of the kickoffs, I kind of got blocked in the back and tangled up while running full speed,” Dalke said after Wednesday’s practice.
“I don’t know how I landed. I look at it and it’s still cloudy on film, but I hurt my neck and shoulder. I got up to try to finish the play and my whole arm was on fire and on pins and needles.
“All of a sudden, it just started throbbing, so I thought something was up with my shoulder. The doctors checked me out and I still had my strength, but they were concerned that the numbness and tingling was still throughout my hand.
“They thought I had possibly broken something in my neck, so we had to put a collar on. Then the team doctor drove me over to the hospital.”
He arrived in full equipment, whereupon tests were performed and the all-clear was given.
“I came back in the third quarter,” he said, “and I got to finish the game.”
After the down-to-the-wire thriller, Dalke was chosen to handle the traditional post-game brand. Each victory is punctuated by using a branding iron to burn a new digit into a piece of wood that is situated above the entrance to the tunnel. A different player does the honours each time.
Dalke’s efforts received further recognition on Wednesday, when he made the weekly Honour Roll. According to Pro Football Focus, he received the highest player grade (90.3) of any CFLer who performed on special teams during Week 13.
His toughness, by contrast, is immeasurable.
This is a player, remember, who took part in the 2022 CFL Combine without having fully recovered from a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Sunday’s brief hospital stay and subsequent return to the game added another chapter to his story.
“That speaks volumes to his teammates and everyone in the building,” Head Coach Corey Mace said. “I love Dalks.”
Dalke kept his loved ones in mind from the moment he walked off the field and went inside a medical tent on the sideline for observation.
“I knew my mom was going to be pretty sensitive, so once we got out of the tent, (the doctor) said, ‘We’ve got to put you in a collar. Do you want to do it here or do you want to do it in the locker room,’ ” the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder said.
“I said, ‘Let’s not get everybody nervous.’ There were lots of people watching and I was concerned about what they would be thinking about. After that, he said that if everything came back good, I would be able to go back in and play as long as the sensation came back.
“That’s all I was focusing on. I was making sure everything was feeling right throughout my arm. I wasn’t sweating the collar too much. I thought everything was going to be all right.
“I stayed pretty positive. I was watching the game as much as I could when it was on the locker room. I was just trying to stay involved mentally.”
As time moved on, the nature of Sunday’s discomfort became clearer.
“I know from last year that from C3 through C6, I have some bulging discs and some narrowing,” Dalke said. “As soon as you get any of that, you’re going to end up having some nerves that just get pinched or tweaked, so I think it got aggravated.
“(The doctor) said he was going to look back into what we found out from that last year and try to get back to me on it.”
In the meantime, the affected area is receiving some extra attention leading up to Saturday’s Labour Day rematch in Winnipeg.
“We’re working on soft tissue,” Dalke said. “When I went for a massage yesterday, I was told, ‘You’ve got some of the tightest traps I’ve ever felt,’ so we’re just working on getting all that to release and seeing if that will help.
“I’m just going to try to strengthen around my neck to avoid that happening again.”
