Saskatchewan Roughriders’ franchise quarterback Trevor Harris spoke to the media for the first time since suffering a head injury in his team’s Week 3 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Monday. When asked about the head shot he took from defensive lineman Jordan Williams, he sent mixed messages.
“When the other defence tells you they’re about to do something and they do it, maybe you should believe them that they did it on purpose. It was an unfortunate situation that their linebacker got hurt and I know their guys were wanting to do something about it,” Harris told the media in Regina. “I think it was just one of those things where they wanted to get even for their guy.”
The hit occurred one play after Saskatchewan receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby illegally blocked Toronto strong-side linebacker Kenneth George Jr., which caused the defender to suffer a knee injury that will likely end his season. Though Harris momentarily accused the Argonauts of dishing out a retaliatory hit, he quickly walked back that claim, questioning whether or not the hit was even intentional.
“Who knows if it was on purpose, I’m not saying that — I’m not accusing [Williams] but I didn’t really feel like it was a clean [hit]. It is what it is. I don’t think he’s a dirty player, he’s a good football player. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”
On the play in question, Williams clipped the bottom of Harris’ facemask and was assessed a penalty for roughing the passer. He was also fined by the CFL head office a few days later, as was Duncan-Busby for his illegal block on George Jr. For what it’s worth, head coach Corey Mace didn’t appear to take much of an issue with the hit on Harris.
“I like to live in reality — that’s football,” Mace told the media last week. “It’s a violent sport and it gets aggressive, temperatures flare.”
Harris sat out the team’s Week 4 win over the B.C. Lions, though he was a full participant in practice two days before the game and claims to have felt “fine.” He also indicated he wasn’t keen to discuss the decision for him not to play, saying there was a “little bit of a shouting match” at one point — an argument he clearly lost, given that he didn’t suit up.
“Always trust what the doctors are saying, they’re looking out for our best interest,” said Harris. “At the end of the day, we’ve only got one brain and we’re all going to be 55 and 60 someday and I’ve got four kids. Although I told them I was ready to go, I’m ready to play, they kind of took matters into their own hands just based off what they thought and what they gathered from people.”
After taking the hit from Williams in Toronto, Harris indicated he felt “something was going on” with him as he felt “a little bit dazed.” Then again, he said he was also dealing with a “pretty bad virus” at the time, which made it difficult to determine whether or not his symptoms were a result of the hit or unrelated. He didn’t report any problems to the team’s medical staff, which is why he remained in the game until the final snap.
Regardless of how Harris felt about the high hit he took from Williams, he declined to comment on whether or not he considered the fine the defender received to be sufficient supplemental discipline.
“That’s for all y’all to decide,” he said. “I’ve got my own opinion on it.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-0) will host the Calgary Stampeders (3-1) at Mosaic Stadium on Friday, July 11 with kickoff slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT. Calgary recorded a surprise upset win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week by a score of 37-16, while Saskatchewan was on a bye week.
The weather forecast calls for a high of 20 degrees with a 40 percent chance of showers and relatively little wind. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada and on CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 770 CHQR in Calgary and 620 CKRM in Regina.
The post Saskatchewan Roughriders’ QB Trevor Harris sends mixed messages on hit that caused head injury appeared first on 3DownNation.
