Recovered Riders get boost with return of 1,000-yard receiver

The Roughriders are gearing up for the West Final but may be without a key weapon. Donovan Maess has more.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are feeling rested and refreshed after a bye of this past week’s West Division semi-final.

Now the Green and White may be getting an added boost: the expected return of receiver Dohnte Meyers.

“It feels great,” the receiver told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “Had some time off, but to be able to put the cleats back on and get back out there with the guys, it feels good.”

In just his second Canadian Football League (CFL) season, Meyers reached 1,000 yards receiving and was named a West Division All-Star.

However, he suffered an ankle injury in Saskatchewan’s Week 18 matchup against the Ottawa RedBlacks, which kept him sidelined for the final three weeks of the season.

Even without him, the Roughriders clinched first place in the West Division, allowing Meyers and others the rest they needed to get healthy for the division Final this weekend.

“We’re fortunate,” said Myers, who had 65 receptions for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season. “It’s a byproduct of what [we] put in. We wanted to clinch the West; we clinched the West.”

“We had some games to get better and that’s a product of hard work,” he added.

KeeSean Johnson’s status

While the return of Meyers is welcomed, KeeSean Johnson’s status for Saturday remains unknown.

He experienced a knee injury in Week 19 against the Toronto Argonauts and has not played since.

“[We’re] being smart with it,” head coach Corey Mace said. “KeeSean is going to be one of those guys where were like, ‘What are we looking like?’ over the next couple of days.”

Johnson was the Riders’ other 1,000-yard receiver, leading the team in targets, catches and yards. Johnson finished the regular season with 86 receptions for 1,159 yards with four touchdowns.

Along with Meyers, it was the first time Saskatchewan had two 1,000-yard American receivers since 2017, when three Americans – Duron Carter, Naaman Roosevelt and Bakari Grant – surpassed 1,000 yards.

“He’s been running around and stuff like that,” Mace added. “It’s good, we’ve got everybody trending in the right spot.”

Refilling the armoury

The Riders’ receiver room has not been immune to the injury bug this season.

In total, seven different receivers saw time on the injured list this year, including Kian Schaffer-Baker, Sam Emilus Tommy Nield and Joe Robustelli.

“It’s something very underrated what the guys have done,” quarterback Trevor Harris said. “[They have] done a tremendous job stepping up for Sam and [Kian] during the year. And when KeeSean is out, we have guys coming in and nobody’s flinching.”

Saskatchewan is still hopeful their full assortment of weapons through the air are ready come Saturday.

Despite not being at 100 per cent, Mace is confident in the guys catching the ball.

“We’ve seen it all year in that entire room,” he said. “There’s a ton of guys who have made a bunch of plays. And whoever we throw out there, [Trevor] is going to make it work.”

Mace also has not ruled out Johnson for Saturday yet, but earlier this year, the coach was optimistic he would return to the lineup this season.