‘We held him back:’ Harris limited in Riders’ practice

While Trevor Harris was on the field Tuesday, it was tough to gauge exactly how healthy the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ starting quarterback is.

The 36-year-old started practice without his helmet on and mostly as a spectator as the Riders started preparations for Friday’s home opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Kickoff for the CFL game at Mosaic Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

Shortly into practice, Harris ran into the locker room and re-emerged with his helmet in hand and proceeded to throw to the receivers for drills.

But when the offence and defence lined up against each other for pass skeleton, Harris was once again spectating with Mason Fine and Shea Patterson taking reps.

“We held Trevor back today. I think he is going to be fine. He has a little hip pointer,” head coach Craig Dickenson said. “We just wanted him to watch the other guys work today.

“It’s a short week so we held him back today. We expect him to practise fully (Wednesday).”

Harris and the other quarterbacks weren’t available for comment after Tuesday’s practice. CFL teams are allowed to give their quarterbacks one day off from media responsibilities per week.

Harris was injured on the final offensive snap for the Riders in their 17-13 win over the Edmonton Elks on Sunday.

Harris rolled out of the pocket and tried to kill as much time as possible before throwing the ball out of bounds, but the quarterback was hit on the play and was writhing in pain on the ground before being helped up.

“(Not feeling) too great right now,” Harris said from Commonwealth Stadium after the game. “I’m hoping it loosens up a little bit.”

Dickenson stood by the play call and keeping Harris on the field for it instead of bringing in Patterson, who handled short-yardage situations in the game.

“We just have to execute it better. It’s the right call,” Dickenson said. “I get hired to try to win games and put guys in good situations. We just didn’t execute it very well.

“In hindsight, I wish he would have thrown it a little sooner because we weren’t going to kill all of the clock. We just have to block it better.

“We put it in on Day 3 last week. We probably should have put it in a little sooner, but we will execute it better and next time the quarterback won’t take the hit.”

Harris had 20 completions in 33 pass attempts for 179 yards, a touchdown to Derel Walker and two interceptions in his Riders’ regular-season debut.

If he is unable to play against the Bombers, Fine appears in line to start. In two starts for Saskatchewan last season, Fine threw for 364 yards and one touchdown.

Notes: Offensive lineman Philip Blake will be out for a while, according to Dickenson. Blake underwent surgery for a torn pectoral muscle … Walker (knee) didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice. He left in the fourth quarter of the game against Edmonton. Dickenson didn’t have an update on the receiver’s status.