{"id":884712,"date":"2026-09-05T20:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884712\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T20:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:42:11","slug":"aubrey-miller-jr-set-for-first-cfl-start-in-labour-day-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884712\/","title":{"rendered":"Aubrey Miller Jr. set for first CFL start in Labour Day Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aubrey Miller Jr. has been showcasing his talents on special teams for the Saskatchewan Roughriders since 2024.<\/p>\n

Now, the linebacker will make his first career CFL start in the Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers<\/a> \u2014 a game Miller Jr. hasn\u2019t played in, as he has battled injuries.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a big rivalry game with a lot of emotions and a lot of feelings are going to be in the air, especially for me individually as well,\u201d Miller Jr. said.<\/p>\n

The opportunity comes after linebacker Josh Woods<\/a> suffered an ankle injury in last week\u2019s 28-24 win over the Toronto Argonauts.<\/a> He was placed\u00a0on the one-game injured list. Woods had started every game this season for Saskatchewan, recording 47 tackles, a sack and two interceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can thank God and I want to thank the organization for believing in me to fill in the shoes of a great linebacker in Josh Woods,\u201d Miller Jr. said.<\/p>\n

Miller Jr. leads the Riders with 13 special-teams tackles this season \u2014 the fifth-most in the CFL.<\/p>\n

Head coach Corey Mace<\/a> believes special-teams is a proving ground for players looking to get snaps with the offence or defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAubrey has done that at a high level. We\u2019ve had really good players just ahead of him at those spots. He has had some different packages and has come into games and done well. It\u2019s not a matter of trust here in these situations. You\u2019re really excited for the guy to get the opportunity and see what he can do,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n

One of his assignments will be trying to stop Blue Bombers rusher Brady Oliveira<\/a>. Oliveira, a two-time Most Outstanding Canadian award winner and the 2024 CFL Most Outstanding Player, currently leads the way with 956 rushing yards this season.<\/p>\n

Oliveira isn\u2019t a running back who shies away from contact \u2014 something Miller Jr. is looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love contact so that\u2019s what I\u2019m looking for,\u201d Miller Jr. said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just want our opponents to lay down and not get up. I feel like anyone stepping in front of us, they are trying to stop what we are trying to accomplish. A part of domination is making sure they don\u2019t get to do that and we impose our will and demand anything that we want against anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Johnson III missed last week\u2019s contest due to a head injury but he returns to the starting lineup. Wide receiver Shemar Bridges, who signed with the Riders last week, has been put onto the reserve roster.<\/p>\n

In other moves, linebacker Nick Wiebe<\/a> (knee) and linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr.<\/a> (wrist) were also added to the one-game injured list.<\/p>\n

Safety Jaxon Ford (ankle) and defensive end Aaron Patrick come onto the game-day roster. Defensive end Desmond Evans has been added to the practice roster.<\/p>\n

Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show begins at 3 p.m.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan Roughriders depth chart for the 2026 Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (Saskatchewan Roughriders\/Submitted)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan Roughriders player roster for the 2026 Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (Saskatchewan Roughriders\/Submitted)<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aubrey Miller Jr. has been showcasing his talents on special teams for the Saskatchewan Roughriders since 2024. Now,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-884712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884712","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=884712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}