Simon vows to be ready

The curtain fell early on Geroy Simon’s debut performance with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The veteran slotback — acquired from the B.C. Lions on Jan. 24 — didn’t make it to halftime of the Roughriders’ 24-23 CFL pre-season loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium due to a suspected leg injury.

Greg Carr played with the starting offence in the second quarter in place of Simon, who wasn’t even in uniform for the second half.

“I just pulled up a little bit,” Simon, 37, said after the game in the Roughriders’ locker room. “I just wanted to be smart about it and figure out what to do from there.”

Saskatchewan head coach Corey Chamblin said in his post-game media conference that he hadn’t spoken to the team’s medical staff and therefore didn’t have an update on Simon’s status.

Simon, the CFL’s career leader in receiving yardage, missed five of the Lions’ games during the 2012 regular season due to leg injuries. Asked Thursday if the latest problem was a recurrence, Simon emphatically said it wasn’t.

“It’s just a minor thing,” he said. “I should be all right next week.”

The Roughriders are to open the regular season June 29 in Edmonton against the Eskimos.

The Lions made Simon available in the off-season after he balked at taking a reduced role in their offence in 2013. The Roughriders, eager to add the 14-year veteran to their receiving corps, sent receiver Justin Harper and a third-round pick in the 2014 CFL draft to B.C.

Before his departure Thursday, Simon wasn’t the intended receiver on any of Darian Durant’s pass attempts. The duo had talked Wednesday about using the game to develop some ingame chemistry.

Durant said the fact he and Simon didn’t connect Thursday wasn’t a concern.

“We’ll get our chemistry going ...,” the Roughriders’ quarterback said. “Geroy is a key part of our offence, but we can’t just focus in on him. We have to make sure we put points on the board and move the ball.’’