Just short of two months since suffering his devasting knee injury, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris feels upbeat about his recovery as he spoke to the media on Wednesday.
Harris suffered a broken tibial plateau when he attempted to rush for a first down in the game against the Calgary Stampeders on July 15.
He says his recovery process has been quite a journey.
“It’s funny the way God works in life, to slow you down in life, to teach you lessons, to communicate with you, to learn and grow.”
Instead of setting a target for his return to the gridiron, Harris is focusing on achieving his daily goals during his recovery. He has scheduled meetings with his surgeon in the next couple of weeks to determine a more specific timeline for his return to action.
The Roughriders quarterback is expecting to start on-field work shortly.
“I would say that is the most encouraging thing if we can get to that under the two-week mark.”
When Harris got injured against the Stampeders, he immediately knew something was wrong upon hearing a snapping sound.
“I heard that snap in my head, I heard it a few times, thinking in my I broke this in quite a few places and it turned out to be true unfortunately.”
After his devastating injury, the 37-year-old reflected on two promises he made to his father.
The elder Harris initially opposed his son playing as a quarterback but eventually gave in. He made his son agree to never slide and to always walk off the field.
Several years ago, Harris received permission from his father to slide. The game against the Stampeders in July was the first time the Roughriders quarterback failed to uphold his promise to his father.
“That’s the first time I’ve never been able to obey what my dad told me which is walk off the field, so that was all I could think about in that moment.”
Hours after going down with the injury were very emotional for Harris, going through the text messages that poured in after his injury.
“I started crying.” He said, “Wasn’t because the pain or anything, but more or less what has been taken from me and I couldn’t be there for the guys.”
Before his own situation, Harris had only heard of a broken tibial plateau when former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt suffered from it in 2017.
But the Harris family has become all too familiar with tibial plateau fractures recently. The brother-in-law of the Roughriders quarterback suffered the same injury while coaching football.
To make matters worse, four weeks after the QB was injured, his dog also suffered a broken tibial plateau.
In his five games with Saskatchewan in 2023, Harris had 1,271 passing yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions.
Helping the Team
While recovering, the 11-year CFL veteran has been seeking ways to contribute to the team despite being unable to play.
“Even if it’s just small coaching points here and there.”
Harris added that he’s been observing film around the league to find the successful offensive trends that have developed this season.
In the absence of their starting quarterback, the Roughriders have achieved a .500 record (6-6) with a third of the regular season remaining.
Mason Fine took over for Harris at quarterback, before he was sidelined with a hamstring injury against the Montreal Alouettes on August 11.
Jake Dolegala then inherited the starting role after Fine’s injury. Dolegala has jumped out to a 2-1 record, helping guide the green and white to victories over the top two teams in the CFL’s Western Division, the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Central Connecticut product has 678 passing yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions since taking over as a starter.
Harris believes Dolegala’s play recognition has increased throughout this season.
“Busy eyes aren’t good eyes and you can see his eyes have gotten more and more calmer.”
Dolegala’s confidence has also increased, according to the veteran quarterback.
“There’s really no moment too big for Jake (Dolegala).”
Even though he’s unsure when he will return to gridiron, the Waldo, Ohio native expects it to be emotional.
“I’m conquering today, and then tomorrow, I’ll conquer tomorrow, but when I have the helmet on and I hear Bring EM’ Out, it’s going to hit a little difference. “
Practice Notebook
-The return of QB Mason Fine to the Roughriders roster will have to wait at least one more week as he has been ruled out (hamstring) for Friday’s game.
-Offensive lineman Philip Blake could make his 2023 regular season debut this week, he has no injury designation ahead of this week’s game against Edmonton.
-Edmonton will be without one of the weapons on offence, WR Steven Dunbar Jr. (ribs) has been ruled out for this week’s game.
