By Murray Mccormick and Rob Vanstone,
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatchewan Roughriders tailback Wes Cates is sidelined for the remainder of the CFL season with a stress fracture in his left foot. The diagnosis was confirmed Wednesday.
“That’s the bad news,” Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman said. “The good news is the bone is in total allignment, not misplaced at all, and the prognosis is very, very good.
“God love him. Wes wants to play this weekend so much and, no doubt, he is a special talent. But, we’re taking the exact same approach with Wes that we took with Matt (Dominguez, who is gone for the season with a knee injury). The long-term good supersedes the short-term wishes.”
Cates has missed the past four games. Roughriders head coach Kent Austin said Cates had an MRI and CAT scan on Tuesday. Cates was the Riders’ leading rusher with 866 yards on 152 carries and five touchdowns.
Backup tailback Josh Ranek completed a full practice Wednesday and didn’t appear to be suffering any effects from a possible concussion he may have suffered in Sunday’s 26-24 West semifinal victory over the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium.
“We need to see how (Ranek) responds and see if there are any symptoms after practice,” said Austin. “He went through a pretty hard workout and he didn’t have any symptoms regarding his concussion. We’re not even sure that it was a full concussion.”
Austin said the situation is brighter in terms of fullback Chris Szarka returning Sunday. Austin was to talk to doctors Wednesday about Szarka, who partially severed two fingers on his left hand during a table-saw accident at his Regina home on Oct, 15. Szarka was in attendance for part of Wednesday’s practice but didn’t participate in any drills.
Corey Holmes, meanwhile, took his regular repetitions at tailback Wednesday. Holmes suffered a neck stinger on Sunday but isn’t suffering any ill effects. Holmes replaced Cates in the West semifinal.
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Throughout the season, Austin has emphasized the importance of turning the page after a play does not turn out as designed.
The message was received by Andy Fantuz.
In the second quarter of the West semifinal, Fantuz went down for a ball just inside the Stampeders’ end zone. However, the pass deflected off Fantuz to Stampeders defensive back Dwaine Carpenter. A long interception return for a touchdown ensued, paring Saskatchewan’s lead to 13-7.
Undaunted, Fantuz went on to enjoy a fine game, catching six passes for 127 yards.
“That was a pretty good response by Andy,” Austin said. “He was pretty upset about the deflection in the end zone for the interception. He came out and wanted to make a point that he was going to get back in the football game.”
Fantuz was asked about the situation on Wednesday.
“It was a tough play — a tough one to swallow,” he said. “We had the game in control until that point. It really was a momentum swing for them. We’ve got to eliminate those mistakes coming into this week.”
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The Roughriders have 3×5-inch photos of the Grey Cup in their lockers to serve as a motivation and reminder of their quest in 2007.
Otis Floyd, a linebacker with the defending champions from B.C., was told of the Riders’ pictures on Wednesday.
“We’ve got the real deal,” Floyd told the Vancouver Province. “We still hold it until somebody takes it from us.”
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Running back Jamal Robertson, who was released by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in August, was practising Wednesday.
Robertson was originally signed by the Stampeders in 2001. He then embarked on a career that featured stints in the NFL Europe and in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. Robertson was brought into the Riders camp as injury insurance.
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EXTRA POINTS: The Riders and Lions are meeting in the West final for the third time in four years. The Lions have won both previous meetings … Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game, the Riders are scheduled to return to Regina International Airport at 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
