Durant’s recovery on schedule
No problems for veteran QB in mini-camp
Darian Durant has some good news for Saskatchewan Roughriders fans.
The veteran quarterback said Tuesday he’s 95-per-cent recovered from the season-ending Achilles tendon injury he suffered in Saskatchewan’s first game of 2015. Durant added he didn’t have any leg problems during Saskatchewan’s mini-camp in Florida last week.
“I’m almost there,” said Durant, who’s in Toronto to do some promotional shoots for the upcoming CFL season. “I had a great offseason in Atlanta working with some great trainers and physical therapists.
“It’s about building volume in the leg, being able to withstand high intensity for three, three and a half hours of a football game.”
The Achilles injury was Durant’s second major setback in as many years. He missed Saskatchewan’s final eight regular-season games in 2014 with a torn tendon in his right elbow after starting 83 of 90 games the previous five seasons.
He had a career-best 31 touchdown passes in 16 regular-season starts in 2013, finishing that season leading Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup title at Mosaic Stadium.
But after suffering consecutive season-ending injuries, Durant, 33, admitted he had some doubts regarding his football future.
“You go from being a guy who’s known to be very durable and then you have two crazy injuries happen and you think about life after football,” he said.
“You don’t like to think that when you feel you’re in the prime of your career but being on the shelf and sitting down and not being able to move for months is tough on you personally.
“But I’ve had a great support system with my family and everyone in the organization has been good to me. They keep my spirits up whenever I maybe feel down and it’s given me that drive and motivation to be even better.”
Durant said he’ll have no lingering doubts about his health when he steps onto the field for real.
“When I look at my elbow injury, I don’t care if you’re 10 or 50, if a guy hits you with your arm going forward with that much momentum, something’s liable to give,” said Durant, who sustained the injury Sept. 7, 2014, when he was hit by Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive tackle Bryant Turner, Jr. “As far as the Achilles, I look at it as a freak injury.
“I’m just trying to make sure I train a little bit better because coming into last year it was all about my elbow ... and other parts of my body weren’t able to benefit from that. Now it’s about training your core, training your legs and making sure everything is strong. I’ve had a great off-season so I’m not really worried about it.”
Durant will be Saskatchewan’s starter under new head coach/GM Chris Jones. After finishing last season with a league-worst 3-15 record, the Riders hired Jones, who led the Edmonton Eskimos to the 2015 Grey Cup, as their head coach.
Durant didn’t emerge from the off-season unscathed, having to take a pay cut this year. He’ll reportedly earn $450,000 in the final year of his CFL contract instead of the roughly $500,000 he was scheduled to make.
“It was (difficult) but I totally understand why,” Durant said. “In order to get some of these guys we brought in, we needed to free up some space.
“I understand the business and I’m all about getting better.”
Durant made it clear he’s not ready to call it a career just yet.
“I feel like besides the Achilles I’ve not had a major lower-body injury,” he said. “If I can stay healthy and productive — it’s all about production — then I see myself playing until at least 40.”