REGINA -- Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver Samuel Emilus has had more than his fair share of bad luck when it comes to dealing with injuries in 2025.
First it was a foot injury in Week 2 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that caused the former 1,000-yard pass catcher to miss three games. Then, two games into his return to the line-up, he suffered a knee injury in Week 8 against the Edmonton Elks. That landed him on the six-game injured list and he hasn’t played since.
Finally some good news -- the final edition of the Riders injury report for this week’s game against the Edmonton Elks reveals Emilus will be available to take the field, marking what he hopes will mark the last time he has to make a return to the line-up this season.
“I will say it was a long time coming,” Emilus told voice of the Riders Dave Thomas. “I've been working to get back, trying to get back, be part of practicing, be part of the team a little bit more and it feels great to be back.”
As one might expect, it’s been a frustrating time for the fourth-year veteran. Had he played all 13 games this season and maintained the pace he was on, Emilus would currently have over 1,100 yards receiving and sit among the top three in the league. Instead, he comes into Saturday’s contest in Edmonton having played only four games with 361 yards receiving.
“You never want to be hurt, when you get hurt you have to take a step back and not be able to help the team,” Emilus said. “That affects you mentally a little bit but I have great guys around me, great coaching staff that allow me to be part of the team even when I was hurt. I had to do my part and make sure I get back and help them.”
Now that it’s back to business, it’s a matter of seeing the team get back on track and back in the win column. The Roughriders went into their final regular season bye week with a sour taste in their mouths after absorbing a 48-31 loss to Montreal in their most recent outing. Emilus expects that will act as extra incentive against the Elks.
“That's all you think about because you can't really make up for that loss, you gotta wait an extra week,” he said. “I think we're gonna use it as motivation, being level-headed, making sure that even though we lost we still got five more games to play this season and after that is the playoffs, let's use this to get ready for that time.”
The task isn’t expected to be an easy one, though -- Edmonton has been playing better as of late and lost their two most recent games against Toronto and Hamilton by a total of three points. With a 5-9 record, they’ll need to string some wins together quickly to get back into the playoff picture. That can make for a dangerous team and Emilus expects his crew to be ready for it.
“I would say we gotta match the desperation,” he said. “We gotta play our football, our brand of football, which is physical, have high intensity and we'd be alright. We never go into the game thinking about the other team per se. We're gonna do a game plan against them but as far as being intense, having energy and making sure we play the right way, it's all about us first then the other team.”
The Rider Broadcast Network has all the action on Saturday beginning with the pre-game show at 2 p.m. with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 5 p.m. on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
