Roughriders eye the bye — with or without Fajardo
Star quarterback dealing with injury that is likely to keep him on sideline
REGINA Cody Fajardo made it clear his oblique ailment is not the end of the story, for himself or the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
It’s simply “to be continued.” Although it doesn’t look promising for Fajardo to dress in today’s regular-season finale against the Edmonton Eskimos (2 p.m., Mosaic Stadium), the Riders’ franchise quarterback put things in perspective when he stated that the playoffs need to be his No. 1 priority.
“There’s definitely a lot of risk to me playing in tomorrow’s game,” said Fajardo, whose team (12-5) needs a win or tie to lock up first place in the West, plus a bye to the division final.
“(Today’s game) is very important in terms of what we want to accomplish. The good news for me personally is this isn’t a game to get into the playoffs. We’re guaranteed a (home) playoff game, which is nice to know. Had this been a game where it’s do or die … I think I do everything I can to go out there. Knowing there’s a game after this, it changes it.”
As of Friday, Fajardo admitted he was in no shape to play a CFL game.
He’s not completely ruling it out, but that appears to be the direction things are headed — barring a miraculous last-minute recovery.
“If it was up to me I’d be out there playing but, honestly, I wouldn’t be effective if the game happened to be today,” said Fajardo, who doesn’t want to put the team in jeopardy by playing when he’s not fit to do so.
He’s also wary of making the injury worse and taking himself out of the playoff equation.
“That has been going through my mind all week long,” he said. “I’ve had some pretty big significant injuries throughout the year (that he has played through) but this is the one that’s a scary injury. I wish it was something minor where I could just go out there and play with pain — but the fact of the matter is, I could play my last snap for the year if I go out there and play.”
The Riders are expected to make a final decision on Fajardo after he meets with head coach Craig Dickenson this morning.
In the meantime, they’ll play the waiting game.
“We’re hopeful he wakes up in the morning and feels really well,” Dickenson said. “I’m not overly optimistic but we’re going to wait until tomorrow. If he doesn’t feel like he can be an effective quarterback, we’re not going to play him. It’s really up to him.”
Dickenson confirmed that Isaac Harker will get the start if Fajardo is ruled out. Third-stringer Bryan Bennett is expected to be mixed into the action.
“We certainly don’t feel like we’re going to take a step back,” Dickenson said. “We know Cody has had a great year but if he doesn’t play we have confidence in Isaac and Bryan. We feel like, with the guys we have around those quarterbacks, that we should be effective.”
The Eskimos, whose playoff crossover fate has already been determined, are expected to rest some of their players, including quarterback Trevor Harris.
The Riders have more at stake, so they’re approaching Saturday’s contest more like a playoff game. They also know that a win would give Fajardo an extra week to get healthy.
“I think (the bye) is important just because everybody is tired at this time of year and everybody is a little beat up,” Dickenson said. “If you asked every team in the West, for sure they’d give their right arm to get that bye, but it doesn’t guarantee anything more than you play the next week.
“We want to win this game and we’re going to put our best team out there. If it’s with Cody, great. If it’s not, we’ll put our best team out there without him.”
NOTE: Linebacker Derrick Moncrief (hip-flexor, shoulder) will be replaced in Saturday’s lineup by versatile DB Loucheiz Purifoy. Dickenson said Moncrief might have been able to play in a playoff scenario but it’s hoped some extra rest will get him “close to 100 per cent” for the post-season.