Receiver Jorden medically cleared to play
Receiver has been medically cleared to play for first time since knee injury
The last time Kamar Jorden played against the Winnipeg
Blue Bombers, he set franchise records for the Calgary Stampeders.
Every football fan in the city remembers that day. Jorden seemed to catch every ball thrown in his general vicinity, and once it was in his hands he would shake off whatever Bombers defensive back was trying to tackle him and accelerate for more yards.
The numbers were staggering. Jorden finished with a Stampeders record of 249 yards. He caught 10 of the 11 passes intended for him and also scored a touchdown.
Somehow, though, it feels like even getting on the field for Sunday’s West Division semifinal might be just as impressive as what Jorden accomplished that day.
If — and it’s still a big if — Jorden is included on the Stampeders’ roster for Sunday’s do-or-die matchup with the Bombers, it will mark the culmination of a remarkable recovery from a devastating injury that saw him tear three ligaments in his knee in last year’s Labour Day Classic.
It was the sort of injury that ends careers, more often than not.
Jorden refused to accept that. He began rehabbing as soon as he could, going through the lonely process of rebuilding his strength in the knee over 14 months. The Stampeders re-signed him to a two-year contract extension in the off-season, but for most of the season it looked like we’d have to wait until 2020 to see him catching passes.
This week, that changed. Jorden was back on the practice field with his teammates on Wednesday. The Stamps held a closed practice Thursday, but he was even more involved Friday.
There are no guarantees that practising means he’ll play Sunday against the Bombers, but he was taking first-team reps Friday and it seems increasingly likely.
“I’m so happy,” Jorden said. “I’m just happy to be back on the field. I feel like you don’t really realize how much you actually love the game until you go through something like that. Just to be back out here with my teammates after watching them in practices, meetings, being around them the whole time and having to be on the side doing my own thing, just to be out there talking to the guys, joking … I’m just happy to be back out there.”
Again, it’s really worth emphasizing it remains unclear whether Jorden will be playing Sunday. Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson confirmed that Jorden received medical clearance to play, but we’re talking about a player who hasn’t been involved in a game since early September of 2018 stepping into a must-win playoff game. That’s a tough ask.
Yet there are reasons to believe Jorden’s return might be coming at a moment where the Stampeders need him. Eric Rogers hasn’t practised all week, and backup slotback Aaron Peck is fighting through an injured hip.
If neither is ready to go and Jorden is ready, expect him in the lineup.
“He is a possibility,” Dickenson said. “Understand the risks, but I’ve been given clearance. He’s just trying to get himself ready and make it hard on me. You’re right, Eric isn’t there and Aaron Peck is also fighting a bruised hip. I have to get a squad ready to go, and he’s an option.”
There’s little doubt Jorden’s Stampeders teammates and coaches are thrilled to have him back on the practice field and would love to have him in the lineup.
This is a guy who had 55 receptions for 944 yards and six touchdowns before Labour Day last year. He might have had a serious case for being the CFL’S Most Outstanding Player in 2018 if he hadn’t suffered the knee injury.
That’s not really why the Stamps are so excited to have him back, though. They know what he went through with the injury and the journey he’s had to take to even get back in contention for a spot on the active roster.
“I think anybody in football, there will be guys on the other team who he’ll catch the ball and they’ll tackle him and they’ll say ‘Hey man, good to see you back,’” said Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
“It’s one of those things. We’re all enemies and everything on the field, but in sports, athletes are athletes and we all hope for (good things for) each other, especially when stuff like that happens.
“That was a pretty tragic injury, so if he gets that chance I think everybody’s going to be lifted by that.”