Instead of discussing the Saskatchewan Roughriders' 10-2 start to the 2025 CFL season after their victory in Winnipeg in the Labour Day rematch, much of the focus has been on a hit Blue Bombers' quarterback Zach Collaros took that forced him from the game.
In the third quarter, Riders' strong-side linebacker C.J. Reavis came on a blitz with a clear line to Collaros in the pocket as their facemasks incidentally connected during the collision. During his weekly feature segment, ‘Double Talk’ on the SportsCage, Darian Durant explained why he believes the hit was not dirty.
“I think that's just football. It's unfortunate this happened to Zach but when you're aiming for the shoulder or the chest area, sometimes you're going to get part of the helmet. I don't see anything dirty, it's just a part of the game.”
Durant acknowledged the narrative has already shifted to Collaros’ future in the professional CFL game.
“He's had a ton of these injuries and I'm speaking in football terms, whenever you have more than two concussions, I say a ton. He's been through this time and time again. It hurt my heart to see him lying there on the turf and not really moving.”
Collaros injured his neck in Week 5 against Calgary and missed part of the Blue Bombers Week 6 game against Toronto before missing the return match-up a week later. Durant feels those hits may be taking a toll on Collaros’ long-term health.
“I think this has happened too many times for Zach. If I'm him or if I'm in his corner, I'd definitely be encouraging him to think really hard about stepping out there on the field again.”
Collaros' head and neck injuries date back to 2019 when he absorbed a helmet-to-helmet hit from Simoni Lawrence. Collaros, who was with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, missed 16 games recovering from that collision while Lawrence was suspended two games for the hit.
The concern inside Princess Auto Stadium was evident. The stadium was silent with Collaros on the turf, the emotion and energy seemed to drain. The Bombers did not retaliate following the hit, which didn’t surprise Durant.
“I think that they've seen this too many times. There's more concern or feeling what's to come for him in his life than being in the heat of the moment and ready to take up for him or something like that.”
“You could see the guys, the look of concern.” Durant added, “I think they were more concerned about the person and they've seen this too many times.”
Winnipeg is back in action on Friday night when the Bombers travel to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats. Collaros' status for that Week 15 game hasn’t been defined.
