June 24 in Vancouver.
It was the season opener for the Edmonton Eskimos against the B.C. Lions. For middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt the new season would only last into the second quarter when he suffered a ruptured Achilles, which at the time the Eskimos called season-ending.
Fast forward 146 days and Sherritt was seen practicing with his teammates almost five months after suffering his devastating injury.
“It’s something I literally have thought about for four months and change,” Sherritt said. “Finally to get back out there and fulfill close to what my goal was, it’s awesome.”
READ MORE: Edmonton Eskimos J.C. Sherritt on the sidelines for the rest of 2017
The normal recovery time for a ruptured Achilles is six months. Sherritt’s recovery took less than five months and he said that was the goal from day one of his recovery.
“That was my main focus. People talk about having down days and I understand that but I honestly didn’t have one,” Sherritt said.
“I felt like I never wasted a day because I knew instantly what my timeline was. I knew how fast somebody had made it back and that fell in the timeline of the Grey Cup.”
Head coach Jason Maas said last month on the Eskimos Coaches Show on 630 CHED that Sherritt was targeting the Grey Cup for a return. Maas said to see it actually play out is remarkable.
“For him to persevere mentally and physically from what he’s been through, I mean it’s difficult,” Maas said. “It’s difficult to get ready for the next season, let alone the same season so tremendous amount of respect for him obviously.
“He’s got the most respect of anyone in the locker room probably and this is going to be another notch on his belt and for our organization on what he’s about.”
Sherritt is available for this weekend’s Western Final against the Calgary Stampeders but being that he has one game left to serve on the six-game injured list, the most likely scenario is a return in the Grey Cup game, should the Eskimos advance.
Defensive back Neil King missed practice on Friday while running back Pascal Lochard took part in Friday’s session. He’s missed the last two games with injury.
Kick-off of the Western Final from McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Sunday is at 2:30 p.m. 630 CHED will have live coverage of the game starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 1 p.m.