Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
REGINA — Ahead of the biggest game of their season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders named Cody Fajardo the starter for Saturday’s contest against the Edmonton Eskimos. However, there’s a chance that the pivot could still be forced to sit out.
During his availability on Friday, the quarterback said that he’s still in a considerable amount of pain heading into the weekend.
“If the game were today, I would not be playing,” Fajardo said to Riderville.com. “It’s just one of those flukey things that you don’t really plan for. I’ve taken thousands of hits over the course of the year and throwing routes is what brings me to my knees.”
On Thursday, Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said that Fajardo suffered a back injury during a closed practice a day prior.
Fajardo revealed that the injury he suffered was to his oblique while he was throwing during that practice.
Earlier in the week, Fajardo was named the team’s candidate for the league’s Most Outstanding Player award. The 27-year-old took over under centre in the first game of the season and has become the team’s leader. Through 17 games, Fajardo has thrown for 4,302 yards and 18 yards while rushing for 611 yards and an additional 10 scores on 107 carries.
“If I’m close to 50 or 60 percent, I’m out there on the field with my guys,” Fajardo said. “But I also don’t want to be selfish and go out there and do stuff that I can’t do and put the team in a bad situation when we have capable backups in (Isaac) Harker and (Bryan) Bennett who can go out there and get the job done.”
In the event that Fajardo can’t go, Harker will serve as the team’s starter. The 24-year-old has featured in three games this season for Saskatchewan, completing 21 of 33 passes for 254 yards.
The Riders and Esks will meet up at Mosaic Stadium for the final game of each team’s campaign. They will kick-off at 4:00 p.m. ET.
