DURANT EAGER FOR 2015 SEASON
TORONTO – The long, tedious repetition of daily stretching movements, strengthening exercises, along with icing and heating routines was worth it for Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant.
The star pivot feels ready to return to the gridiron after his surgically repaired right arm passed a big test at a team mini-camp this month in Bradenton, Fla.
“It felt great being able to test it out, just to make sure I was able to make all the throws necessary to be successful,” Durant said Wednesday. “I kind of worried a little bit once I got hurt because the elbow is such a fragile joint. But once I was able to get out there and test it out and see that everything was good without any swelling, that let me know that everything was good to go.”
Durant suffered a torn tendon in the elbow of his throwing arm last September, ending his CFL season. The Riders sputtered after he went down with youngsters Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege spending time under centre.
The team even lured aging quarterback Kerry Joseph out of retirement for the stretch drive. Saskatchewan settled for a third-place finish in the West and dropped the division semifinal to Edmonton.
“I’m just hungry,” Durant said. “When you miss that amount of time and the season goes downhill like it did – we were sitting at 8-2 – once the season went downhill it was very frustrating. This off-season has just been like, ‘Hurry up man.’ I’ve been training harder than ever.
“I think a lot of people around the league forgot about me. I’m anxious to go out there and prove the doubters wrong and show Rider Nation that I can still get the job done.”
The Riders were brimming with confidence at the start of the 2014 season after winning the Grey Cup on their own field the previous fall.
That 8-2 start last season was soon followed by a five-game losing skid en route to a 10-8 finish. Durant returned to the practice field late in the season but Joseph started the last three games and the 18-10 playoff loss to Edmonton.
The Riders will have a top-flight backup on board this season after signing veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn last February. He started 17 regular-season games last year with the B.C. Lions and was the league’s second-leading passer with 3,918 yards and 17 TD passes.
“I think we’ll work great together first and foremost,” Durant said. “He’s the consummate pro, he’s been around a long time. He’ll definitely help me out with some things that I may have never seen before.
“I think the organization is loading up, man. We have to do what we have to do in order to win. Just like last year, you never know when injuries may come up and he’s definitely a great security blanket if something happens.”
The Riders also signed defensive linemen John Chick and Tearrius George to contract extensions this off-season and added free-agent offensive lineman Gord Hinse. Saskatchewan will open the 2015 regular season on June 27 at home against Winnipeg.
Durant was joined by teammate Rob Bagg and other CFL players at a northwest Toronto school Wednesday for a Reebok initiative called BOKS, a class designed to improve children’s academic performance and health through physical activity and nutritional knowledge.
(Canadian Press/Greg Strong)
Better start working on the excuses.
To the person that made the first comment, not only are you a 'hater of life', but I will bet that any discussion you participate in, people around you only wish they were not present.
Your a negative downer to say the least!
Not really sure why you would read and/or participate in a Rider discussion…
Get a life!
K in Vic
The first poster is surely posting from Calgary and a Stamp fan. Don't assume that everyone who posts here is from Sask or is a Rider fan. Just like Rider fans like to infest opposing teams comment sections so do fans of other teams. Its part of the fun of trying to get people's knickers in a knot.
I come here to read about real sports teams but always like to comment on very exciting rough rider news. Does anyone know (maybe superfan k from vic) the record (week by week) of rough rider opponents in the first 10 games of the season vs after Durant went down?
This message brought to by ela.
Thats because the east was playing the west at the start for the most part and the west was definatley better so of course the teams they played had bad records. Any team can win any given game if your a better team you still have to go out and win the game and durant did that. Im sick of darian haters.
Let me get this straight. When we went 8-2(well on our way to a guaranteed GC) , it was (primarily) against much weaker East division teams with poor records. Then Durant went down and we struggled (primarily) against a much stronger West division schedule with very inexperienced quarterbacks who had little to no playing time prior and a qb brought out of retirement??Thank you professor, that's the reply I was looking for.