Riders’ prepare for first game action since 2019

It’s been a long time coming for players on the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ as they prepare for the annual Green and White game on Saturday.

It might just be a scrimmage — but this match up amongst teammates will be a lot more significant than years past considering their is no pre-season games this year to allow coaches more time to truly evaluate their players, as well as this being the first time in almost two years that most players on the rosters have padded up in “a game like environment.”

Linebacker Nigel Harris is learning the ropes of the CFL after being signed by the team in April.

Harris, much like most other players on the team, hasn’t seen any form of game action since 2019. He started his professional football career in 2017 when he was signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

Harris would end up seeing the bulk of his NFL playing time in his rookie season with the Chargers, playing in five games and registering 11 tackles.

He would eventually bounce around the league getting opportunities with the New York Giants and then the Tampa Bay Buccanneers that same season.

Harris spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Tennessee Titans, totalling three games over the two year span before being released by the team last July.

Much like a lot of other players arrival in the CFL, Harris says it was filled with up and downs and that he feels blessed to have an opportunity to play football in 2021 with the Riders’.

“I’m just glad to be here, I’m happy to be here and make the most out of my situation,” he said. “I’m glad I have the opportunity to actually play football, you know, a full game rather than being a utility type of guy.”

“I want to get back to actually playing the game that I love.”

Ahead of the scrimmage on Saturday, Harris knows that the CFL’s style of football will be a big adjustment to the way the game is played down south.

“In my first practice when I first seen players waggle, I was so nervous, I wasn’t used to seeing that,” Harris said. “Over time, you get used to it,but I can definitely say the motioning and the extra man on field is definitely the biggest difference.”

With Saturday being the closet thing to a game-like atmosphere that Riders’ players will experience until the season starts Aug. 6 against the B.C Lions —Harris knows the significance behind the game.

“It’s going to really be our only opportunity to to really get out there,” he said. “I got to remind myself the reason I’m here and remind myself of who I am.

“I have to have faith in my training and that’s what I’m going to do.”