It's the news no one in Rider Nation wanted to hear: franchise quarterback Darian Durant's 2014 regular season is done.
The team confirmed the news on Tuesday morning that Durant had torn tendon in his right throwing elbow and would be undergoing surgery to fix it.
"He's going to be on the six-game (injured list) pretty quickly here," said General Manager Brendan Taman. "Realistically, his regular season is probably done, whether or not we can get him back for the playoffs, we'll see, but it's not the greatest of outlooks."
It's likely a long shot that Durant could be back on the field with the team come November. However, Taman was reassured that Durant will be able to fully recover from this injury and will be ready for the 2015 season.
This is really the first time that Durant has suffered a major injury. He appears to be taking the news as well as one could.
"He was okay, he's a pro, he knows it's part of the business," said Taman. "Obviously, he's very disappointed but he took it pretty well, he just wants to get it over with and move on."
It appears that Durant will be able to move on pretty quickly as Taman suggested Durant could be going under the knife in the next day or two. After that he may return home to the United States for a little but Taman does expect Durant to be around the team the majority of the rest of the regular season.
That's good news for new-starting quarterback Tino Sunseri, who should be able to benefit greatly from having Durant around the locker room and on the sidelines.
With Durant done for the regular season and likely the playoffs, the team now turns the ball over to Sunseri who is only in his second year in the CFL. He joined the team as a free agent last year. Despite the lack of experience, it appears the team has full confidence in their sophomore pivot.
"We have a lot of faith in Tino, obviously we're going to say that, and we truly believe it," said Taman. Taman believes that his greatest strength might actually be his mind as he called him a sharp kid.
"The one example I can give to you is when we turned over the ball last game, I was on the bench, and he came down to Milo to asking him where he needed to get to kick the winning field goal, if we had to get to that," said Taman. "You can tell by that example, he's a really sharp kid, he knows a lot about the game."
Everything is about to get much more intense for Sunseri as it's completely different to start a game at quarterback compared to coming in due to injury or mop up time. It's a challenge, though, Sunseri says he feels ready for.
"That's the way we've been preparing is each one of us is the starter, each one of us is that guy that can go in and produce whenever our number is called," said Sunseri after the game on Sunday. "If my number is called, I guarantee I'll be ready to be able to go out there and help my team as much as I possibly can."
The team is also looking at bringing in some extra depth at quarterback now. Taman confirmed reports that they were targeting former-Washington Huskies Keith Price. Taman is hopeful they Price will sign on the dotted line soon.
Adam Weber, who was released at the end of training camp, is apparently not being considered by the team. Taman also didn't rule out trying to bring in someone with CFL experience but he admitted that list of players currently available is pretty short.
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