A scare turned into a joke for the Roughriders and quarterback Darian Durant. Durant wore a cast on his hand to start Friday's practice, a day after putting a scare through Rider Nation when he left the field with a right hand injury.
Durant got the cast cut off in a sign that he was just playing a little prank on teammates and the fans in attendance, and all the blogs and forums that made the injury sound a lot worse than it actually was.
It's a battle the coaches are watching closely. Who will be the starting running back for the 2010 saskatchewan Roughriders?
Wes Cates is looking to bounce back from an injury plagued season last year which he says was humbling.
"I definitely have to prove to those doubters that I'm not done. Also prove to myself that I still have fuel in the tank and that I'm ready to go for a few more years."
All-star Saskatchewan Roughrider quarterback Darian Durant left the field at the morning practice after suffering an injury to his throwing hand.
He banged his throwing hand off the shoulder pad of a defensive lineman during a scrimmage. Durant injured his index finger but feeling returned a few minutes later, now the trainers are only concerned with any swelling that could happen in the next couple of hours. He left the field in noticeable pain but returned to watch the remainder of practice.
Heading into the Saskatchewan Roughriders 100th season, they have reached an all-time high in profits.
The Roughriders posted a profit of 3,148,500 dollars in the last fiscal year, eclipsing the profits of the Grey Cup Championship year of 1.7 million dollar profits.
The Riders big money makers were ticket sales of nearly 10 million dollars, merchandise sales that reached over seven million dollars and another home playoff game that brought in over one million dollars from the league.
Day 4 of training camp was a little more relaxed for the player's.
The second half was run through without pads, but guys are still trying to win spots on that offensive line...especially for the tackles.
Wayne Smith, who is coming off a ruptured achilles last year, says that first day was something he had been long waiting for.
"Hungry can't even describe how I was feeling....I just wanted to knock somebody's head off. Now I'm getting back to being patient and getting back on the football side of things. This competition is huge."
Day 3 of Sakatchewan Roughriders training camp was minus one player. Quarterback Todd Reesing was let go.
Head coach Ken Miller says it was obviously a tough choice.
"It was close, but we had to make a decision for the good of the entire group, the entire team."
That leaves Ryan Dinwiddie, Cole Bergquist and Kent Smith battling for the number 2 spot.
Smith says it's tough to see one of their own go.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders appear to have made up their mind regarding which four quarterbacks will stay in Green and White in 2010.
Todd Reesing, a star out of the University of Kansas, is not on the field for Day Three of training camp.
That leaves Darian Durant being backed up by Ryan Dinwiddie, Cole Bergquist and Kent Smith.
It was a shorter day for the players at Day 2 of training camp.
A few nagging injuries to some players forced the coaches to cut out some drills, but the intensity level was just as high as Day 1.
All 5 quarterbacks were on the field, which may have been a little surprising considering there was thought one might have been let go yesterday.
Head coach Ken Miller says the guys have made it tough on the coaches to see who they go with.
Training camp for the Saskatchewan Roughriders is underway.
The team was on the field this morning at 8:15 for the start of two practices and players were joking and smiling through a stretching session giving an indication the team has moved on from last year's heartbraking Grey Cup loss.
Quarterback Darian Durant says he's done a lot over the off season to exercise the demons of the loss and he says it basically comes down to faith.
Day 3 of Rider rookie camp has wrapped up. Now the coaches sit down and see who will have to be cut as they trim the roster leading up to main camp.
One of the positions that's seeing a good battle is the back up quarterback position. Will the team take 5 into main camp, or will it be trimmed to 4?
Head coach Ken Miller says it will be a tough decision to see how many quarterbacks they take into main camp.
"There are a lot of reasons to take 5 in...there are a lot ofreasons to not take 5 in, so we'll talk that over."
