Rogers `grateful' to finally line up for Elks as season opener nears
If prized player is true to form, all is well, and even he admits ‘I’m not new to this’
Is there a more interesting study at the Edmonton Elks training camp than Sirvincent Rogers?
His last football game was the Nov. 26, 2018, Grey Cup game in Commonwealth Stadium as a member of the Ottawa Redblacks. He's scheduled to play his next one at Commonwealth Stadium against the Redblacks on Aug. 7. While every CFL veteran hasn't played in 20 months due to last year's season lost entirely to the coronavirus pandemic, Rogers lost the entire 2019 season with Edmonton as a result of a freak training camp injury.
Rogers, an annual all-star every season he played following being named the CFL Award winner as Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 2015, was a key free agent signing in 2019 to come to Edmonton and play left tackle to protect quarterback Trevor Harris' blind side backside as he'd done so successfully in Ottawa.
In case you hadn't noticed, the one area where the newly named team suffered significant losses in the off-season was at offensive tackle.
If Rogers, now 35, returns and rediscovers his form early in the coronavirus-shortened season, all is well. If he doesn't, the team that is going into the season without a backup quarterback with CFL experience could be in trouble.
Thirty-five years of age is getting old in football.
And 896 days between games is an eternity.
“It was long, man. Even longer for me,” said Rogers.
“The guys were out a lot of months. I was out a year longer than they were. It felt long but it felt good to get the first day of training camp in there.”
Rogers wasn't sure how he would feel after all that time to pull on his new antlered helmet and step on the field for the first time Sunday.
“I felt grateful,” he said of the sensation.
“It's been such a long journey going through the injury and the going through COVID and everything, I was just very grateful to get on the field and finally be a part of what we're trying to establish here.”
Rogers knows he has to be patient and practise with an abundance of caution for starters here.
“It's probably more mental than anything else,” said the 6-foot-4, 314-pound native of Jasper, Texas.
“I don't want to make it sound like I'm any different than all the other guys and have a greater challenge than anybody else.
A lot of guys had to do a lot of things in training after missing the 2020 season.
“It's been tough on everybody, man. I've just been trying to do what I can do to come back and make the most of my opportunity.”
As much or more than anybody, Rogers took note of the exceedingly high number of injuries to players preparing for training camp, including four Saskatchewan Roughriders suffering Achilles tendon injuries on the same day.
“This is one of those games that no matter what you do in the off-season to prepare, you can't really duplicate getting on the field and competing. So it was very unfortunate to hear about the injuries across the league because a guy like me, I have been through a ton of those, man,” said Rogers. “I know most of those guys. You just hate to see that across the league.“
There will be no pre-season games prior to a condensed 14-game schedule this year. And it's a big question how you go from having a cautious camp to playing a full-blast battle Aug. 7.
“There are no shortcuts in this game,” he said.
And that's the thing.
The training camp injury when he showed up in Edmonton two years ago was no minor matter.
A torn triceps requiring surgery was considered a major blow to the career of the prized player. Historically it involves a great deal of recovery time. Rogers was determined to make it back before the end of the 2019 season but didn't do it. Who knows, the extra season off provided by the pandemic might not be a bad thing.
Like a lot of guys in this league, this is a guy who has gone through a lot to play this game. It's hard not to cheer for him.
“Do your homework on how I got here. I'm not new to this,” he said when he emerged from surgery two years ago.
Rogers twice battled back from season-ending knee injuries at the University of Houston. His road to the CFL included stops in the Arena League with the Hartford Colonials, Arizona Rattlers, Las Vegas Locomotives and Jacksonville Sharks.
If you're playing pro football for those teams, money isn't your priority.
There's no bigger fan of Rogers than QB Harris, who has had him as his blindside bodyguard when he was with both Toronto and Ottawa.
“It's great to see Sirv back in the huddle,” said Harris.
“He's been protecting my blindside most of my career as a pro. He's a guy I never really have to worry too much about. Pressure doesn't come from his way. He's been a blessing for me.”
He'd be a blessing for the Elks.
This is one of those games that no matter what you do in the off-season to prepare, you can’t really duplicate getting on the field and competing.