Ticats’ Collaros is back at practice
Zach’s back. Well, almost. And that’s only if you’re willing to accept that he was actually gone in the first place.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros returned to practice on Monday, exactly eight months and 20 days after having surgery to repair his right knee (and yes, he has been counting.) It’s the next step in a long recovery that still has no fixed end date. He will not, for example, play Friday when the Ticats travel to Montreal to take on the Alouettes.
“Good to have him back out there working. He has a great presence about him,” said head coach Kent Austin. “We’ll see how it goes. He has to work back into it. All the protocols have to be followed from this point.”
Collaros did individual drills and some light team work, mostly running the scout team against the starting Hamilton secondary. The key is to monitor the knee for soreness or swelling — anything that could possibly lead to setback — while ramping up his workload.
“It was nice to wear a helmet today — it’s been a long time,” said Collaros. “Just going out there and playing ball again was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to doing more and more of that.”
In the meantime, Collaros will continue to contribute any way he can. He maintained a presence with the team after the injury last season and was a fixture at Tim Hortons Field this winter after electing to do his rehab in Hamilton. He’s attended every meeting since training camp and served as a de facto assistant coach during games.
“It’s weird because it doesn’t feel any different because he’s always here, he’s always been around,” said linebacker Simoni Lawrence. “He’s been a great teammate to everybody even though he wasn’t playing, which is hard to do.”
Collaros has been unconditionally supportive of Jeremiah Masoli, who has filled the starting quarterback role during much of his absence. But Collaros acknowledges that watching from the sidelines has been, and will continue to be, difficult.
“I just want to be out there playing, I’m not saying anyone has played poorly — I think Jeremiah has done a great job,” Collaros said.
“But there are things that you see sometimes and you can’t do anything about it and it’s frustrating.”
With Collaros now ready to take practice reps, the Ticats sent No. 3 quarterback Jake Waters to the Saskatchewan Roughriders via a trade over the weekend, receiving the negotiation list rights to quarterback B.J. Daniels.
That means pivot Everett Golson, signed late last month, will be added to the active roster this week.
“We like Everett and what we’ve seen from him and there’s only room for four of them (quarterbacks),” Austin said.
By removing Collaros from the six-game injured list after just three games, the Ticats will also lose any potential salary cap savings — something that could have roster implications down the road. The 27-year-old signed a lucrative three-year contract extension with the club in June which includes a hefty raise for this season.
Collaros will be making some concessions as well: he was sporting a knee brace at practice on Monday, something that will now become a fixture in his practice and game day attire.
“I’ve been wearing it for three months so I wouldn’t call it an adjustment, its second nature to me,” he said. “In a perfect world I wouldn’t have it on, but I’m used to it.”
How it impacts his mobility remains to be seen, but it was clear from Monday’s practice that his arm is as good as ever. He zipped a couple of throws into tight coverage, including one just over Lawrence’s outstretched arms. That led to a little bit of lighthearted banter between friends.
“I’ve always appreciated the game, to be able to come out here and play a game for a living,” Collaros said. “When it’s taken away from you and you can’t do anything but sit around and do the rehab, it gets pretty boring. I missed the competitive nature of the game. “That’s why I love football.” NOTES: Austin said after reviewing the film from Friday’s loss to Winnipeg, he was pleased by Masoli’s performance, with one giant caveat: the four costly giveaways. “You take the turnovers away — which you can’t, obviously — he really played well,” Austin said. “The way he stood in there under pressure, stood in there and delivered the ball, he made some great throws.”… former Ticats quarterback and current Alouettes’ starter Kevin Glenn missed practice on Monday with an eye inflammation but is expected to return on Tuesday. Montreal receiver Duron Carter, suspended one-game by the CFL for bumping Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell, could play against the Ticats while awaiting the outcome of his appeal.