Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo was throwing at practice on Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s CFL’s Western Final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Fajardo has been dealing with an oblique injury since the last week of the regular season and sat out their final game against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Isaac Harker got the job done, completing 23-of-28 passes in a 23-13 win. The victory punched their ticket to the Western Final — and an extra week off.
Fajardo has always been confident in saying he’ll be ready to go for Sunday’s matchup. That hasn’t changed as the team inches closer to game day.
“We got a great game plan going into the week and what we are going to do, but everything felt pretty normal and pretty good today.”
Fajardo said he’s been trying to balance rest and preparation, something that hasn’t come easy.
“I have to walk this fine line between getting myself ready for the game and not overworking it,” Fajardo said.
“If you overwork yourself and regress, you find yourself in a tough situation.”
Fajardo said he’s taking it day-by-day and staying patient.
“My plan has been, this whole time, to come out here on Day 1 and throw 10 to 15 yards and progress as the week goes on and continue to throw further and further,” Fajardo said.
“Even if I feel good, I just don’t want to go out there and throw 100 to 200 balls because that wouldn’t make any sense.”
Fajardo said he knows he’ll feel some discomfort against the Blue Bombers and is relying on adrenaline to get him through it.
“You can go through a 10-year career and not have this great opportunity. I don’t want to squander an opportunity like this. If there’s a little bit of pain, so be it. I’m going to be out there with my guys.”
Like Fajardo, Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson has no doubt their star quarterback will play, but is still making sure his backups are ready if need be.
“He’s going to dress, there’s no doubt. He’ll be on the sideline with gear. Whether he starts or not depends on how he does this week,” Dickenson said.
Fajardo led the league in passing yards with 4,302 and threw for 18 touchdowns. He added 611 rushing yards and ran in to score 10 times.
Receiver Shaq Evans could be a game-time decision in Western Final
Roughriders receiver Shaq Evans missed another practice on Wednesday after injuring his toe during the final game of the regular season.
“Shaq’s a wait-and-see guy. His foot is bothering him a little bit,” Dickenson said.
Dickenson said if Evans can’t play, either Kenny Stafford or Jordan Williams-Lambert will take his spot.
“We feel like we have good depth at receivers. We definitely want Shaq to go if he’s healthy, but if he’s not, we feel confident,” Dickenson said.
Evans had 72 catches for 1,334 yards and five touchdowns in 18 games this season.
Fajardo on the head-to-head with former Roughrider Zach Collaros
On the opposite side of the field, former Roughrider Zach Collaros will take the ball for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Collaros began the 2019 season as the starting quarterback for the Green and White, but was concussed in the first game.
He was eventually traded to the Toronto Argonauts before landing with the Blue Bombers at the trade deadline.
“It’s incredible. Just to see what he has gone through this entire season — a guy who was traded twice,” Fajardo said.
In Sunday’s win over the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL’s Western Semi-Final, Collaros threw for 193 yards with a touchdown.
“I’m excited to go against him. I remember seeing him in Toronto and I was just hoping he would get on the field,” Fajardo said.
“Now facing off in the Western Final, I couldn’t have dreamed something like this.”
In 74 career regular-season games, Collaros has accumulated 16,979 passing yards and 94 touchdowns.
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