Roughrider training camp: Prized free agent addition Sean McEwen 'out for a while'

Article content

Sean McEwen won’t be getting in the Saskatchewan Roughriders line-up any time soon.

Riders head coach Corey Mace broke the news — and it wasn’t good news — to an assembly of fans during the State of the Nation panel discussion Saturday afternoon at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

While McEwen got injured during one-on-one drills earlier in the week during Roughriders training camp at Griffiths Stadium, there hadn’t been an update, as to just how serious the injury was, until fans heard it first-hand that it’s serious enough to keep the three-time CFL all-star out of the line-up longer term.

McEwen, a 6-foot-1, 295-pound offensive lineman from Calgary, was a prized free-agent acquisition during the off-season. He had played 132 regular-season CFL games with the Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders before joining the Riders.

“With Sean,” Mace told fans huddled up in the hall, “unfortunately Sean suffered an injury that’s going to keep him out for a while, guys. You guys are going to be the first to get that information here right now. And it sucks. It sucks for him more than anything.”

McEwen, a former first-round pick in the 2015 CFL Draft, was pencilled in to be the Riders’ new centre on the offensive line.

McEwen came in as a three-time all-CFL selection, a three-time West Division all-star and one-time East Division all-star.

On Saturday, he appeared on the sidelines during the Green and White Day scrimmage with a brace on his leg.

Even if McEwen won’t be seeing any game action any time soon, the Riders want to keep him involved.

“You feel for Sean, but he made it very clear that he wants to get his finger sized (for a Grey Cup ring),” noted Mace. “So he’s going to do everything he can to help us still. He’ll remain with us in some form, or fashion, and he’s a heck of a mind. In talking with him, he said, ‘I know I’ve only been here for this amount of days but there’s something different here.’ It’s good to hear that validation from somebody coming from the outside in. Just an unfortunate situation and unfortunate part of football.”

In McEwen’s place, Zack Fry has been taking starting reps at centre with fellow Canadian national offensive lineman Logan Ferland at left guard and American import Jacob Brammer at right guard.

Training camp continues Monday through Friday at Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

The Riders will open their preseason next Saturday, May 24 when they visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

‘EFFICIENT’ QB PLAY IN GREEN AND WHITE GAME
The Riders treated their fans from northern and central Saskatchewan with the Green and White scrimmage Saturday.

“It’s kind of tough without true tackling, but I thought there was some efficiency out there with the quarterbacks,” said Mace. “I thought they found the receivers in the holes and some of the soft coverages that we had going on.

“I thought we challenged our receivers with some of the press-man stuff and we came away making a play there — a couple of turnovers — and just some situational stuff, things we’ll see on film that we can coach off of, as far as penalties go, understanding situations. We did the last-play kind of deal, understanding cadence going on two. The defence was off-side today, so excellent cadence by the quarterbacks, but we have to be better defensively. And then, just watching the pre-snap penalties. We’ve been big on that this camp. If you get one, that’s more than you want. There’s something definitely for us to look at the tape and just get better.”

Rookie Eddie Heckard and Rolan Milligan Jr. had interceptions on defence.

Offensively, Canadian receiver D’Sean Mimbs was the busiest of the bunch with a number of catches, including two touchdown grabs.

Kian Schaffer-Baker, Samuel Emilus and rookie running back Mario Anderson also scored TDs.

Jake Maier — who is among those battling for the back-up quarterback spot along with Tommy Stevens and Jack Coan — was able to make good use of his reps during the scrimmage.

“No doubt, obviously we try to get as many and equal reps for the quarterbacks, and Jake’s been really good for us in this camp,” said Mace. “He is what he is. He’s been that kind of quarterback throughout his career. More snaps and reps for him, … it’s just getting used to his receivers and stuff, we’re pleased with him.”

A half-time break features one-on-one battles between the defence and offence.

Even offensive lineman Payton Collins lined up as a receiver up against defensive lineman Benoit Marion for an endzone match-up.

“We’re just keeping it fun,” smiled Mace. “Looking at Payton, he wasn’t sure how to waggle. It was just fun to see. Benoit swears he’s an athlete, so we put him out there and he almost got caught. Payton — big red — had a chance to catch it. No, it was just good fun in our showcase in our compete period.”

RIDERS ADD PLACEKICKER GARRITY

National kicker Brian Garrity made his training camp debut in the Green and White game.

The newly signed Garrity spent five U Sports seasons with the Western Mustangs. The London, Ont., native made 98 of 121 career field-goal attempts – an 81-per-cent accuracy rate — over his time with Western.

Last season, he was 25-for-30 for a career-best percentage of 83.3.

He was named an OUA first-team all-star in 2024 and kicked a personal-best 49-yard field goal in 2022.

dzary@postmedia.com

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.