Durant makes progress toward recovery
Darian Durant is taking some cautious first steps as he returns to practice with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
On Thursday, Durant threw a few passes and did some stretches as the Roughriders prepared for Saturday’s CFL game against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos.
He is recovering from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, which he suffered in the regular-season opener.
“Darian is moving forward in his recovery and he was probably throwing the ball with our training staff,’’ Roughriders interim head coach Bob Dyce said Thursday. “Other than that, I couldn’t tell you (what Durant did). He was able to walk around fine. I did see him jog and that’s all very positive.’’ Durant said shortly after suffering the seasonending injury that he plans to return better than ever in 2016.
The Riders are moving on this season without international defensive end Alex Hall.
Hall injured his left knee in the first quarter of the Riders’ 30-15 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 9. Dyce said that Hall underwent surgery last week and is recovering well. It initially appeared that Hall had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but Dyce said that wasn’t the case.
“(The diagnosis) was different from what they initially expected,’’ Dyce said. “It wasn’t a torn ACL and it was better than what we expected.’’
Dyce added that Hall, who is second on the Riders with seven sacks, should be ready by training camp. Markus White is to start at defensive end in Hall’s absence.
Dyce has had some tough talks with veterans since returning from the bye week.
The Riders’ interim head coach told some veterans that their playing time might be reduced to allow the Riders an opportunity to evaluate some of their prospects and younger players.
“I knew there would be some challenging conversations with some guys that I either won the Grey Cup with or who I have coached from the beginning of this year and tell them there was a possibility they would have to sit down this week,’’ Dyce said.
“You don’t look forward to that. That’s why (the media) always got on me for doing whatever we can to make the playoffs. These guys are competitors and you want to reward them with the opportunity to keep going forward. When it comes to a situation like this, where it’s not related to their playing ability or anything like that and you have to ask a guy to sit down, that’s not a very nice conversation to have. You certainly don’t look forward to it.’’