Rookie Jackson in a rush to rejoin Stamps offence

Don Jackson has stayed patient, but it’s time.

The Calgary Stampeders rookie burst out of the gates this season and put up big numbers. For the first month of the season, Jackson was rolling, until a hamstring injury put his breakthrough on hold.

After more than a month on the sidelines, Jackson is pencilled in to start at running back today against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1:30 p.m., McMahon Stadium, TSN, News Talk 770).

After insisting earlier in the week that he hadn’t become frustrated during his time recuperating, Jackson said Friday he’s champing at the bit to get going.

“Really anxious, very anxious to where I’ve got to calm down,” Jackson said. “That’s where I’m at right now. Instead of like, firing bullets everywhere, I’m telling myself to slow down.”

Jackson was close to returning for last weekend’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and took the majority of reps in practice this week, so it was no surprise to see him on the 46-man roster for today’s game.

While both Romar Morris and Terry Williams have done relatively well at running back in Jackson’s absence, his early season performances made it somewhat inevitable that he’d reclaim his starting job once he was healthy enough.

“I think our running backs have been working hard and doing a good job, but we think Don is kind of our lead horse and he’s good at a lot of things,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “He’s not only a good runner, he’s probably our best at protections and a pretty solid receiver, so yeah, we think we’ll get a lot out of that position.”

Through five games this season, Jackson has rushed for 442 yards and two touchdowns on 68 carries, and has shown an impressive commitment to blocking.

With quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell getting sacked five times last week against the Roughriders, that’s a skill the Stamps could use.

“He’s got a different mindset,” Dickenson said. ‘He’s a very physical guy. He’s smaller, but he brings that edge and just a different personality than the other guys.”

Jackson, by the way, will be going up against a Bombers team that’s allowing the third-most yards per carry, on average, of any team in the CFL this season, so there could be opportunities for him to have a big game. It’s an opportunity he’s been waiting for, even as he tried to keep some perspective during his injury layoff.

“I know we have a long season left,” Jackson said. “We’ve still got our goals, and we’re trying to make sure we get there. We’re trying to take it from good to great.”

SOMETHING GOING AROUND

The Stamps inserted Tre Roberson back into the starting lineup for today’s game after missing the Riders’ game. His backup will be Tay Glover-Wright with Patrick Levels on the one-game injured list.

“Pat was sick,” Dickenson said. “Something’s going through our team, obviously we’re trying to clean it up. Pat, we thought was just a stomach virus. He was pretty sick, so we felt it was best to keep him away from the guys.”

NO UPDATE

The Stampeders announced Thursday that defensive co-ordinator DeVone Claybrooks will be away from the team to get some medical tests done. There were no updates Friday.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea has already wished him well.

“Hopefully he’s doing well,” O’Shea said. “... The coaching fraternity seems to be big, but it’s small when something like that happens.”

TUNDE BACK

After returning to the lineup last weekend, Stamps’ safety Tunde Adeleke is back in his starting role for today’s game.

Adeleke missed eight weeks with an ankle injury, but the second-year Ottawa native has proven he can have a serious impact on games.

In his absence, Adam Berger filled in well, so the Stamps now know they’ve got reliable Canadian depth at the safety position.