BURRIS TO INJURED LIST, HARRIS TO START IN WEEK 2

OTTAWA – The Trevor Harris insurance policy is paying early dividends for the Ottawa Redblacks.

Harris will make his first start as quarterback for Ottawa against the Montreal Alouettes Thursday night as starter Henry Burris recovers from a hand injury.

Burris, last year’s Most Outstanding Player, injured his pinky finger on his throwing hand during Saturday’s 45-37 win over the Edmonton Eskimos and was placed on the one-game injured list Monday.

It marks the first time in nine years that Burris will miss a start due to injury.

The 41-year-old suffered the injury in the third quarter on a play-action as his hand hit a helmet, and on the next play Burris struggled to handle the snap and fell on the ball. Burris was 23-for-31 for 251 yards and one TD.

Burris will see a hand specialist Tuesday and is hopeful to return to action sooner rather than later.

“You want to be smart when making a decision on your body and especially this early in the season on when to try to push it and when not to push it,” Burris said. “If it’s something that could be short term you don’t want to turn it into a long-term problem.”

Signing Harris in the off-season was supposed to be insurance for the Redblacks future, but his timeline has moved up significantly due to this latest injury.

Harris finished the game 17-of-19 for 292 yards and three touchdowns.

“He did a great job, we didn’t miss a beat,” said Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins. “Henry had been playing at a very high level and he just stepped in and ran with it and did a great job. We’re fortunate to be in that position.

“I knew (signing him) was an extremely smart decision back in February so this is justification.”

(Canadian Press)