Durant had ‘a really good day’ at practice, says Roughriders’ head coach

After an ugly loss to the Montreal Alouettes last week – some good news may be on the way for the Rider Nation.

Darian Durant participated in a full practice Monday, taking reps with the team’s other starters. By contrast, last week Durant’s reps were largely with the backup receivers.

Durant hasn’t played since week three when he injured his ankle in the 40-27 loss to B.C. 

“It was good to get back out there with the guys, get some reps, get a feel for game-like situations, so, so far so good. Looking forward to see how I bounce back tomorrow,” Durant said after practice.

Head coach Chris Jones agreed with Durant’s assessment, saying he thought Durant had “a really good day” and was waiting to speak with him after practice.

“I’ve got to see him have the ability to move around and run our offence and look as if he’s not out there labouring,” he said.

As for Durant, he said all the little nicks keeping him out of the game have been frustrating, but there has also been some upside to being on the sidelines.

“It was good, actually, just seeing things from the sides, seeing how teams prepared for us and it also helped me get in the playbook a little bit more,” he said. “It’s definitely helpful when you’re just sitting back and you can look at the game from a different perspective.”

The jury is still out on whether he will start, but Durant says he expects to sit down with head coach Chris Jones soon to figure out the team’s plan for the week.

“I haven’t heard anything from coach. I think he just wanted to mainly to see how and if I could get through a practice,” he said.

“I feel pretty good, and we’ll just see what coach says. It’s a long season, so we’ll go from there.”

Given the team plays on Thursday in Calgary, the announcement will come sooner rather than later. The Roughriders practice Tuesday morning at Mosaic before traveling to Calgary on Wednesday.

Game time is 8pm Thursday night, with CJME’s 10 hour game coverage beginning at 4pm.

NOTES

• Dan Clark was back at practice Monday morning, but linemates Xavier Fulton, Chris Best and Brendon LaBatte remain out.
• John Chiles was absent from practice for family matters.
• Defensive back Buddy Jackson also practiced with the team.
• Roughriders who were placed on the six-game injured list to start the year were eligible to start practicing with the team Monday – and many did including kicker and CFL draft pick Quinn van Gylswyk, OL Matt Vonk and OL Tre’Von Armstead.