Watkins makes timely return

It was a case of better late than never for Patrick Watkins.

The veteran Edmonton Eskimos cornerback returned to the practice field for the final two days of training camp following an undisclosed injury that kept him out of action for the majority of the preseason.

And his return to action couldn’t have come at a better time for a secondary that’s been hampered by injuries to veterans.

In last week’s preseasonopener, defensive halfback Marcell Young was the only starter from last year’s unit

I was unfortunate to miss a little time but I feel like I picked up right where I left off.

that suited up in a 23-13 win over the Calgary Stampeders.

But for the past two days, Young joined safety Cauchy Muamba in the non-practising group of walking wounded needing a breather from on-field duties, making Watkins’s return all the more substantial.

“I was unfortunate to miss a little time but I feel like I picked up right where I left off,” said Watkins, 33, a veteran of 10 seasons in pro football.

On Thursday, he closed the book on his fifth training camp since coming to the CFL, and his first one that didn’t involve Chris Jones — who returns Saturday to Commonwealth Stadium (2 p.m., 630 CHED) leading the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ charge — as his defensive co-ordinator.

“I’m just learning how to read this defence a little better and understand the concepts of what we’re trying to do,” said Watkins, who won a Grey Cup in Toronto under Jones before following him to Edmonton to repeat the feat last year.

“It’s a new defence, so we’re more focused on the concepts of what we’re trying to get done when the defence is called.

“That’s the biggest thing of being in a new defence at the beginning, is understanding the concepts per play.”

While that level of comprehension seems to come more readily to veterans, they’ve proven to be a luxury in short supply among the ranks of Eskimos defensive backs lately.

“It’s the nature of football, nobody wants to come out here and get hurt nor do we plan on being hurt,” said Watkins, who watched John Ojo — a fellow native of Tallahassee, Fla., playing on the other corner of the defence — have his season ended by a ruptured Achilles tendon earlier this week.

“It’s unfortunate that Ojo went down and our prayers go out with him, but at the same time, it’s just the nature of the game.

“I’ve been injured before and I’m pretty sure people who have played long enough have been injured one way or another, even if it’s just been nicked up. It comes with the game.”

Watkins was an all-star in Jones’ defence as part of the Grey Cup champion Argos in 2012, but a fractured ankle suffered in the East semifinal crossover against none other than his current Eskimos club spelled an end to his playoff run.

So a minor scrape in training camp is hardly the worse thing to happen.

“You want to get the (injury) bug out of the way as early as possible, if you can,” Watkins said. “It’s just been hard with people in and out of the lineup. That’s the thing we’re going to have to bounce back from and make sure that the chemistry is there when and if everybody returns.

“When you practise hard, sometimes things happen. Sometimes when you play timid, things happen.

“It’s just the game. Fortunately for us, we still have some pretty good backups.”