Jameer Thurman set to return to Riders’ lineup

Jameer Thurman admitted it was tough to have to sit out last week’s game.

“It was hard. Even if I wasn’t playing, I wanted to be on the sidelines,” Thurman said. “I wanted to be there for my brothers. It was tough being here. I was hoping to try and communicate as much as possible pregame and postgame of what I saw and what we needed.”

The veteran linebacker missed the team’s 22-22 tie against the Ottawa Redblacks after suffering an elbow injury in the previous game against the Edmonton Elks.

“I was doing a lot. It was sitting and trying to stay calm (while watching the game), but the fourth quarter I think I was standing most of the time,” Thurman said.

Head coach Corey Mace said Thurman was also sending the team text messages during the game.

“It was like, ‘Hey, everyone is busy right now Thurm,’” Mace said with a laugh. “He loves being out there and we love having him.”

Despite the fact Thurman was placed onto the six-game injured list due to his elbow injury, he appears on track to return to the lineup for Friday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes. Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m.

“I take my recovery extremely serious and I let everyone know that,” Thurman said. “I don’t sugarcoat it. Most of my time is watching film in here while I am taking care of my body. Being at home, and even when I’m taking a break from watching film, I’m still doing something to take care of my body. I am going to harp on that as much as possible and I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure I am out there for my guys on game day.”

This will be the second showdown of the season between the Riders and Alouettes. Saskatchewan sits at the top of the CFL West Division with a 5-3-1 record while Montreal has a CFL-best 8-1 record.

In the first game between the two, the Riders had a 16-3 lead heading into halftime but Montreal made a switch at quarterback at the half to Davis Alexander and the Als put up 17 unanswered points to win 20-16.

“We know what we did wrong that game. We know we came out flat in the second half and it cost us a win,” Thurman said. “We put that on our shoulders as a defence — we’re better than that. We’re going to be better this time going against them. We’re going to play a full four quarters, you can’t play a half in this league.”

Along with Thurman, running back AJ Ouellette (hip) and quarterback Trevor Harris (knee) were both designated as available for the Friday game.

For Montreal, quarterback Cody Fajardo (hamstring) is also designated as available, though he carried that designation last week and was scratched once the depth chart was released. This would be the first game the reigning Grey Cup MVP has played Saskatchewan since the team chose to not re-sign him following the 2022 season, missing the previous two games due to injury.