Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. had an emphatic message for Corey Mace.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach, I\u2019m telling you \u2014\u00a0I\u2019m going to be back,\u201d Miller Jr. told the Roughriders\u2019 Head Coach shortly after being injured on July 25 against the visiting Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, Miller Jr. is back and very pleased to be available for Friday\u2019s CFL road game versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6 p.m., CKRM, TSN).<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a knee injury, you never know until you get the scans and things like that,\u201d he said after Wednesday\u2019s practice at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thought was that you\u2019d be out longer. Then, once you get the news, it was around this time that I was supposed to come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to make sure that I was on time by taking the proper steps as far as rehab and making sure I was spending time with my trainers, even when we had bye weeks and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller Jr. said hello to Riderville in 2024, registering 12 special teams tackles in only seven games. In an equal number of appearances so far this season, he has five special teams stops and two defensive tackles.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe puts in so much time,\u201d Mace marvelled<\/a>. \u201cSpecifically during the time that he was injured, he was here at 5:15 in the morning and he was getting his body right and getting his treatment. He was out here at practice all day long, because he didn\u2019t want to miss anything.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly, when he\u2019s on the field, it\u2019s hair blazing. He\u2019s out there trying to play a physical brand of football.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love the kid. We\u2019re just happy for him to be able to have the opportunity after going down to injury.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the bad news, he was able to extract several positives from an adverse situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just trying to make sure that I kept my faith,\u201d Miller Jr. said. \u201cSpending time with my trainers, you would think that it would be a hard period of time, but it actually was a fun time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got some cool guys as trainers. There were a lot of funny moments. They made this process pretty easy for me, just with the jokes that we\u2019d have and everything.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to be in a bad mood around this staff, especially with the group of guys that we have. They make the process much easier. You kind of forget about the injury and just enjoy the camaraderie.\u201d<\/p>\n He will soon enjoy a return to the gridiron.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually, you would be itching to get back, but my faith has been so high in the process that whatever God has for me, He has for me,\u201d Miller Jr. said.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019ve been waiting to get back but, then again, I haven\u2019t been itchy, just because if you\u2019re trying to get back earlier than you\u2019re supposed to, that\u2019s when other things can happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just learning in life to enjoy the process and, not only that, having my faith and trust in the man above.\u201d<\/p>\n HARRIS HONOURED<\/p>\n Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris has been recognized once again by Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n He was named the CFL\u2019s top offensive player for Week 19, according to rankings released by PFF on Wednesday. He received that honour for the fifth time this season.<\/p>\n Harris was 23-for-29 for 340 yards and two touchdowns last Friday, when the Roughriders defeated the visiting Toronto Argonauts 27-19 to clinch first place overall in the CFL and hosting privileges for the Western Final (Nov. 8, 5:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).<\/a><\/p>\n Harris previously received top-offensive-player laurels after Weeks 6, 7, 9 and 12. He was also the player of the month for July.<\/p>\n Roughriders defensive tackle Mike Rose was named the top defensive player for Week 19.<\/p>\n Harris, Rose, Samuel Emilus<\/a> and Mario Alford<\/a> led their respective positions in Week 19. Emilus topped all receivers and Alford led the league\u2019s returners.<\/p>\n INJURY UPDATE<\/p>\n Miller and five teammates were listed as available for the Winnipeg game when the Roughriders\u2019 daily injury list was released on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Also available are Harris (load management), kicker Brett Lauther (back), defensive back Tevaughn Campbell (head), defensive lineman Habakkuk Baldonado (foot) and receiver Shawn Bane Jr. (knee).<\/p>\n Although Harris is available, he will be rested for the Winnipeg game because it will not have an impact on the Roughriders\u2019 playoff positioning. Jake Maier is to start at quarterback on Friday.<\/p>\n Listed as out for the Winnipeg game are defensive backs Rolan Milligan Jr. (knee\/foot), Marcus Sayles (ankle), Nelson Lokombo (ankle) and Jaxon Ford (knee), receivers KeeSean Johnson (knee) and Dohnte Meyers (ankle), defensive linemen Micah Johnson (load management) and Shane Ray (neck), running back A.J. Ouellette (load management), quarterback Tommy Stevens (knee), offensive lineman Trevon Tate (pectoral) and linebacker Melique Straker (illness).<\/p>\n Harris, Ford, Lokombo, Ouellette, Stevens and Tate were limited in practice on Wednesday. Stevens returned to practice after being a non-participant on Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n All three of the Roughriders\u2019 1,000-yard producers \u2014\u00a0Meyers (receiving), Ouellette (rushing) and KeeSean Johnson (receiving) \u2014\u00a0will sit out the Winnipeg game.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. had an emphatic message for Corey Mace. \u201cCoach, I\u2019m telling you \u2014\u00a0I\u2019m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-216528","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\/216528","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=216528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}