{"id":181200,"date":"2025-09-30T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T23:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/181200\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T23:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T23:47:09","slug":"kian-schaffer-baker-inching-closer-to-rejoining-riders-lineup-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/181200\/","title":{"rendered":"Kian Schaffer-Baker inching closer to rejoining Riders lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kian Schaffer-Baker<\/a> has had to be patient this CFL season.<\/p>\n

The slotback has been out since the first quarter of the team\u2019s opening game against the Ottawa Redblacks<\/a> back on June 6 with a foot injury.<\/p>\n

Now, ahead of the Week 18 game against the Redblacks, Schaffer-Baker is back running with the first team. Kickoff for the game is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Green Zone pregame show will begin at 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cA long process. A lot of hardships in it but a lot of beauty in it as well. It\u2019s finding the blessing in the lesson each and every day and this process has taught me a lot,\u201d the 27-year-old said. \u201cWhen you love something so much, you\u2019re willing to go to the end of the world for it. This is something I would do that for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaffer-Baker can be one of the most dynamic players on offence for the Riders when he has been on the field, but he has had trouble doing that. Back in 2022 \u2014 the last time the Mississauga, Ont., product played all 18 games \u2014 he had 960 yards and five touchdowns. Since then he has played in nine games in 2023 and 14 in 2024.<\/p>\n

During Tuesday\u2019s practice, Schaffer-Baker recorded a number of good catches, including one in the end zone that he made sure to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just bringing that energy. I\u2019m a big energy guy and I know other people feed off of that,\u201d Schaffer-Baker said. \u201cI know if I bring the energy, it might spark the guy beside me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Corey Mace<\/a> wouldn\u2019t confirm if Schaffer-Baker would be rejoining the active lineup or not this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s potential there. Last week, it was good to see him get a little bit of work and he\u2019s getting more work this week too,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n

His addition would provide a boost to the Riders\u2019 receiver room that has managed to keep things steady<\/a> as the group has dealt with injuries. Last week, both Sam Emilus and Shawn Bane Jr. returned to the lineup in the loss to the Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n

But with the injuries in the group, KeeSean Johnson and Dohnte Meyers<\/a> have become a pair of the CFL\u2019s best, while Tommy Nield<\/a> has proven to be one of Harris\u2019 most trusted targets.<\/p>\n

KeeSean Johnson<\/a> eclipsed the 1,000-yard (1,088) mark last week with Dohnte Meyers<\/a> (898) set to do so. Meyers has seven touchdown catches this season, tied for the third most in the CFL.<\/p>\n

Nield has also recorded four touchdown catches this season in just nine games played.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ceiling is untapped with this group,\u201d Schaffer-Baker said. \u201cWe have so many great players all around, whether it\u2019s O-line, special teams or the quarterback room. We have so much depth and that just pushes each guy every single day to just be his best self. When you step in this field, you know you have someone right behind you who is trying to take your spot. That just makes you the best version of yourself every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riders release Kosi Onyeka<\/p>\n

The Riders announced some roster moves on Tuesday, including the release of safety Kosi Onyeka.<\/a><\/p>\n

Onyeka had appeared in seven games for the Riders this season, the past three as the team\u2019s starting safety. He had 10 defensive tackles and 10 special-teams tackles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a code of conduct here and high standards on and off the field. Unfortunately, Kosi didn\u2019t meet that,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n

The team also released linebacker Chris Russell Jr.<\/p>\n

It added four players to the team\u2019s expanded practice roster \u2014 running back Marcus Major Jr., linebacker Tuasivi Nomura, quarterback Brayden Schager and linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kian Schaffer-Baker has had to be patient this CFL season. The slotback has been out since the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-181200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}