Vaughters stepping up for the Stampeders
It’s been a while since James Vaughters has had a starring role.
Heck ... it’s been a long time since the 24-year-old Chicago native has stuck with a professional football team, period.
Since leaving the NCAA’s Stanford Cardinal in 2014 — with whom he made 18 starts at linebacker — Vaughters has bounced around.
He signed with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2015 and then the New England Patriots in 2016. He began last year’s pre-season with the San Diego Chargers before being picked up by the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders last summer and was on the practice roster for 16 days.
Vaughters started 2017 on the Stampeders practice roster and, sure enough, the team’s plugand-play mentality came in handy quickly.
The 6-foot-2, 247-pounder stepped up and filled the void left by injured defensive stars Cordarro Law, JaGared Davis and Charleston Hughes, who missed two games with a leg injury.
Who would have thought that by Week 6 Vaughters would be playing such an important role on the defensive line? He did. That’s who. “For the past year and a half, I’ve had that same mindset: whenever I get that opportunity, I’m going to make plays when I get in there,” Vaughters said. “That time has finally come, and I’m just glad and blessed to have that opportunity again. We’ve had a few injuries here and there, and it’s cool to finally get to see the fruits of your labour.”
Dealing with a strained calf in the pre-season and getting thrown into the mix late, Vaughters has shown to be a quick study.
In four games, he’s registered eight defensive tackles, one specialteams tackle and three sacks (two of which came in Saturday’s 27-10 home victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders) all while filling in on a Stampeders defensive line that has been decimated by injuries.
“It doesn’t get easier and easier — you just get used to it,” Vaughters said. “I missed most of the pre-season, so when I got back from injury, I worked my way back up and kind of got the feel for the speed of the game and decisionmaking at a quick speed. “That’s really all it is.” It also helps being surrounded by CFL veterans like Hughes, the reigning sack champion who registered three sacks against the Roughriders on Saturday, Micah Johnson, and Bryan Hall.
Vaughters says teammates like that set the tone, and it starts during the week at practice.
“The thing about the older guys, what we always talk about is rushing as a team and playing as a team and doing our job. You’ve got B. Hall and Micah Johnson and Charleston Hughes, all of them just bring you along,” Vaughters said. “Because they want to play at a high speed, and if you’re in there playing a slower speed than they are, it really doesn’t work as well. So if everyone’s playing at a high speed, it’s beneficial for everyone to be on the same page.
“They really bring you along as best as they can, and I really appreciate it.”
The Stampeders (3-1-1) could be getting the services of a few players back Saturday against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats, including linebacker Deron Mayo and defensive back Brandon Smith, the latter who will likely return from the six-game injured list.
“(Smith is) close — he can probably play,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “We’d love to get those veterans back in there, but we played well last week — kind of a checks and balances thing. But we’ll see where we’re at.”
Of course, there are no guarantees ...
“I’m not going to tell these guys you necessarily always get your job back,” Dickenson said.
“I don’t react that way to injuries. When a guy is playing well, he’s going to be staying on the field. Our veterans have that urgency as well the guys that are playing — they know they can keep their job if they keep playing well. To me, it spices up practice a bit ... and hopefully, we take that to the game.”