'Felt like I never left': Ouellette full participant at Riders practice

Saskatchewan Roughriders running back A.J. Ouellette has officially returned to practice as a full participant after missing the last six games due to a hip injury.

“I felt good, I felt smooth, felt like I never left. Being with the guys all throughout the last six games I’ve just been trying to tell them what I’ve been seeing and that just kind of filtered in,” Ouellette told reporters on Tuesday.

The running back has been on the field helping out behind the scenes for a majority of his injury. Last week, he returned as a limited participant but now he can officially return to the lineup. However, the significant time away means he has some catching up to do with the offence.

“[I’ve been working on] just kind of communicating without communicating. I need to be able to know what the O-line is thinking. It’s almost a brand new group from when I started. So I’m trying to get a feel for how they’re seeing stuff, spending extra time with them in the film room, a little extra talk about football,” he shared.

While Ouellette was out, the team signed Ryquell Armstead but he was injured in just his second game as a Roughrider in Week 17. He did not participate at practice last week, but he returned and was limited on Tuesday.

“He brings knowledge. He’s been coached by multiple NFL coaches so I’ve been kind of picking his brain and what he sees on some inside zone stuff, and what he does well. Maybe I can be take a little bit of finesse from him. Just trying to be a better running back from everybody in the room,” Ouellette said.

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The room has proven to be deep while both Ouellette and Armstead have been injured as the team has relied on Canadian Thomas Bertrand-Hudon and third-year CFLer Frankie HIckson. Now that all four could potentially suit up this week versus the BC Lions, the team has some decisions to make.

“It’s at the point in the season where we’re getting some guys back so it’s a good problem to have when you have options like we do. We’ll see how the week of practice plays out and make the decision at the end of the week,” said head coach, Corey Mace.

“It sucks that there’s only one running back on the field at a time. To me, it’s the best position in football so there should be like a 1,000 of us out there,” Ouellette joked. “But it doesn’t matter who’s out there, they’re going to get the job done.”

On the receiver front, the team will officially be without Shawn Bane Jr. for the remainder of the season after he sustained a significant knee injury in Week 17 versus Ottawa. Bane Jr. was at practice on Tuesday on the sidelines with crutches cheering his teammates on.

“I just love that he’s still out here. He’s still part of this team and that was important in our conversation that he was still around,” Mace said. “Just knowing the type of guys that are in the receiver room that are going to have to step up, it’s excellent to have him around for that,” Mace said.

Receiver Mitch Picton also returned as a full participant on Tuesday.