Redblacks’ Harris tired of watching
Receiver likely to play against Ticats
R.J. Harris just wants to get back on a football field on game day and do R.J. Harris types of things.
The Ottawa Redblacks receiver looks like a go for his team’s Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) showdown with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, with the 3-5 hometown team looking to chop down the 6-2 Tiger-Cats, who lead the CFL East Division.
Harris, who had 23 catches for 309 yards in the first four games of the season, has missed the past four with an injury. Last season, his first in the CFL, Harris had 697 yards in 16 games.
“It feels good, it’s been a few weeks, I’m excited to be back out there with the guys,” Harris said following Wednesday’s practice. “Ask anybody on the team, any sport, anything you do in life, you get antsy, you want to get back out there. You prepare all off-season, then you find out you have to sit out …. ”
The return of Harris should provide a boost for the Redblacks, who have struggled to find offensive consistency.
“We have to control what we can control,” Harris said. “We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. There’ve been some turnovers … I had a costly turnover earlier this season … things like that. In that last game, when we’re driving the ball and making plays, we can be a really good offence. That comes from consistency, doing it play after play, quarter after quarter.”
While the Redblacks have gone through a stretch where they have won just one of their past six games, Harris said there’s still a belief within that this team can have success.
“You can look at the vibe around the locker-room, that should tell you everything,” he said. “Guys are still high-spirited, high energy — nobody’s down, we’re not pointing fingers. Now it comes down to execution.”
THE END AROUND: The Redblacks signed receiver Jerminic Smith and added him to the practice squad. Smith was at Iowa, then played Division II at Southwest Baptist . ... WR Jacob Scarfone was moved up from the practice roster to the active roster on Wednesday. ... While both DE JR Tavai and RB John Crockett again weren’t full participants in practice, it looks like both will be ready to go versus Hamilton. Said Campbell: “Tavai is available and good to go, and Crockett should be good to go.” ... WR/returners DeVonte Dedmon and Rafael Araujo-Lopes will both be out, opening the door for former Als returner Stefan Logan to play. Asked if they might go on the sixgame injured list, Campbell said, “We don’t know. We are planning on them not playing, but we don’t think it’s overly long-term. We definitely anticipate them back before the six-game stretch.” ... So if Logan is on kickoff returns, who else lines up with him? At practice, the Redblacks had Greg Morris and Micah Wright taking kickoffs. R.J. Harris, who returns to the lineup, has also done it . ... Asked about Saturday’s 4 p.m. start, Campbell said, “Everybody likes it; the earlier the game, the better. If players and coaches had their way, games would always be in the afternoon.”