Roughriders’ Cody Fajardo returns to the field eyeing Week 8 start against BC Lions

“Definite (ly), I’ll be there.”

Those were Cody Fajardo’s first words to the media since his seventh week absence due to a nasty knee injury and COVID.

He wants to start on Friday night when Saskatchewan Roughriders receiving BC Lions.

But the choice or not is his to make remains to be seen.

“I feel like it might depend on someone else,” he admits. “But, if it depends on me, I am playing. Maybe I spoke too soon by saying I’ll be out there for sure.”

His week away from home saw Fajardo struggle a bit to get back on the field with teammates, snap shots and make tee shots.

“I miss (ed) it, you don’t know what you have until it takes away from you,” Fajardo said.

The 30-year-old signal caller’s optimism about a return to competition this week was supported by his head coach, who also expects his starter to return to center.

“I think he can go, but I think he’s looking good, on pace, it’s good to see him again,” head coach Craig Dickenson said. “Today’s training session, although short, was very productive and we had the opportunity to see him catching up with his receiver.

After training, both Fajardo and Dickenson broke their silence as the knee injury was plaguing the starting quarterback, something they haven’t done since the injury first hit in week two.

When asked if there was damage to the ligaments, Fajardo was quick to respond with a rather succinct answer.

“There, I’ll leave it there,” he said, chuckling.

His coach, meanwhile, expanded further on the injury.

“It’s an MCL, unless there’s something new from today, I don’t know,” Dickenson said. “Yes, we know he has some ligament problems and hopefully it will heal on its own and he can play.”

Fajardo made one thing extremely clear during his stay: his game last weekend against the missing Toronto Argonauts was purely a COVID issue, unrelated to injury.

“It wasn’t my knees that were holding me back, it was the COVID protocol,” he explains. “I didn’t come out of the protocol until Sunday, the day of the game, and the coaches looked after me, they don’t want me. go out without practice.

“(COVID) kicked my ass for 48 hours, it’s been really hard for me, I’ve had every symptom you can think of.”

Although the light is on Fajardo, he is not the only Driver to return to the field on Tuesday.

He was joined by receiver Duke Williams, who returned from a one-week suspension following a helmet-throwing incident during the Argonauts loss in Atlantic Canada for six weeks, and he has issued an apology. to Roughriders supporters.

“I apologize to Rider Nation, I apologize to my teammates, the fans,” he said. “I’ve gone out of character and it’s not going to happen again, but at the end of the day, that’s all I’m sorry for.”

Williams went on to add that he vehemently denied the Argonauts’ allegations that he spat at Shaq Richardson multiple times during the game.

“If you’re not a dog and you’re weak, you make excuses, that’s what you do,” he said. “That’s what he did: make up an excuse, because I begged him and at the end of the day he made up an excuse.

“I didn’t spit on anyone and that’s it.”