Riders’ LaBatte set to return after injury made him consider his future

Saskatchewan Roughriders guard Brendon LaBatte could soon be suiting up for a game in a 12th straight CFL season, but a hip injury put thoughts of retirement into his head.

“That’s kind of where I thought all roads were leading to, to be honest,” the 33-year old said after Tuesday’s practice when asked if he considered stepping away from the game.

LaBatte could play for the Roughriders for the first time in 2019 as the team travels to Toronto to meet the Argonauts on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

LaBatte said he believes he suffered a sports hernia in 2017, which forced the perennial all-star guard to miss the Roughriders’ two playoff games that season.

He played the entire 2018 season with the Green and White.

“I was kind of oblivious to it; I didn’t really know it was there,” LaBatte said. “Once we got the MRI and saw what was going on in there, we knew we probably had to do a surgical fix on that.

“It just wasn’t feeling good and it just got to the point where I was so dominant off one leg and I couldn’t put any (weight) onto my other one that I finally had to sit down and get it fixed.”

He said the breaking point for him was during this season’s training camp while he was doing a drill and got zero drive out of one of his legs.

“It just felt like a bit of a dead leg and I know in my past I’ve been carrying more weight on my inside leg …,” he said. “(It’s) a lot of wear and tear that (for) a lot of athletes, it would actually mean the end of a career.”

With retirement thoughts in his head, LaBatte said the support he got from the coaching staff helped him decide to look into options that could get him back on the field in 2019.

“(The coaches) kind of went to bat for me and we looked into this (doctor) down (in Philadelphia), saw all the other people who he has been able to fix so I signed up to go through the whole process,” LaBatte said.

The idea of surgery wasn’t something LaBatte was too fond of, saying it was the first time he ever needed a doctor to perform surgery on him in his career.

“One of the things (the doctor) asked was what I planned to do post-career and I told him what I had planned to do and he said I was going to have a real tough time doing any sort of physical thing day to day,” LaBatte said.

“As soon as I heard that, it was a no-brainer — I had to go through with the surgery.”

During the recovery process, LaBatte tore a leg muscle, which caused him to go under the knife once again in early September.

Head coach Craig Dickenson told reporters it wasn’t a certainty LaBatte would start Saturday but he would be in the mix.

LaBatte would add to an offensive line that has enjoyed a large amount of success in 2019. The group has given up the second-fewest sacks thus far (23) and has helped Saskatchewan lead the league in rushing touchdowns (20).

LaBatte said he’s glad his career didn’t end with him on the injury list.

“That was probably the biggest bad taste I had in my mouth,” LaBatte said. “To be fixed up and able to function later on in life is kind of a good feeling for me.”

Notes: Wide receiver Justin McInnis (shoulder), slotback Cory Watson (knee) and defensive lineman Zack Evans (hip) all were on the field for practice … Defensive end Charleston Hughes also practised Tuesday. Dickenson said Hughes still has a brace on an elbow but doesn’t expect it to force him to miss any more games. Hughes didn’t play Sept. 14 against the Montreal Alouettes … The Green Zone pregame show begins Saturday at 3 p.m.