Fajardo ready for first training camp as Roughriders’ starter

For the first time in his CFL career, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo is preparing to enter training camp as a team’s incumbent starter.

Fajardo, who is entering his fifth season in the CFL, won the Roughriders’ starting job in 2019 after then-starter Zach Collaros went down with a concussion in the first game of the year.

Fajardo went on to win the award as the West Division’s most outstanding player, throwing for 4,302 yards and 18 touchdowns while also rushing for 611 yards and 10 scores.

For the 29-year-old, this year’s camp feels different because he doesn’t have to be so selfish.

“When you’re a guy just trying to make the team, you’re a little more selfish of doing whatever you can to make the squad but this year, coming in as the No. 1, I think it’s now getting the team as close as you can together in the short, limited time that we have,” Fajardo said.

“Building a Grey Cup championship-winning team starts in training camp.”

But just because he’s the starter and potentially one of the favourites for the CFL most outstanding player award ahead of the season, he’s not taking anything for granted.

“I don’t want to be a flash in the pan,” Fajardo said. “A lot of quarterbacks, you see that success early and then you get lackadaisical I think or you kind of take some things for granted. I definitely haven’t done that in the last two years.

“I’m coming in as if I’m trying to earn a roster spot (just) as I have my entire CFL career. It’s one of those things that I think has made me who I am today.”

Fajardo and other CFL players need to arrive in Canada seven days before camps get underway on July 10.

Like many other CFL players, Fajardo is anxiously waiting to hit the field after spending the entirety of 2020 on the sidelines after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season.

While Fajardo has been working out and studying the playbook during the off-season, he admits the only way to get into football shape is to actually get on the field and play.

“That has been difficult to do, but I think one thing I’ve tried to do in the off-season is that I’ve had an opportunity to throw with some of our guys — I had a weekend with Shaq Evans and a whole week with (Jordan Williams-Lambert),” Fajardo said.

“The biggest thing, which I talk to my wife about all the time, is standing in the pocket and having 300-pounders come at you and try to rip your head off. There’s no way to simulate that in the off-season or when you have a whole year off.

“It’s not like it was only me personally (who) was the only one who has been out for two years. Everyone in the league has been out for two years so we’re all dealing with this similar thing in terms of contact and getting hit for the first time.”

Fajardo also is looking forward to finally putting offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas’ game plan into action.

“The thing I’m most excited for is Maas has had so many quarterbacks that have led the CFL in passing yards in his history,” Fajardo said. “It’s going to look very tough and complex to defences but I think it will be simple for our guys to understand.”

It is going to be a different-looking year for CFL players, with all of them needing to quarantine and follow strict restrictions, at least to start the season. Fajardo said it will take some taking used to.

“You get into a routine as a player when you’ve been in the league for a certain amount of time — game day or weeks leading up to the game — and I there’s going to be some tweaks here in my schedule that are just going to be new but it’s going to be a challenge,” he said.