'Gives you a shot of life': Riders' Harris returns to training camp after birth of son

The Saskatchewan Roughriders returned to Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon Monday after their first pre-season game over the weekend. As well, quarterback Trevor Harris re-joined the team after missing part of last week and the game for the birth of his third son, Tripp Joseph Harris.

“It’s definitely invigorating, gives you a shot of life, to see a new life coming into the world. See how peaceful the baby is and just watch him. Just before I left, you know, I was just sitting there just staring at him, just thinking about how much I was going to miss him. But they’ll be up here in a couple of weeks,” Harris explained.

However, the quarterback did note it was tough to sit out and watch the game from a distance all the way back in Ohio and compared it to the feeling of the shortened pandemic season.

“It was weird. I didn’t expect myself to be pacing around my living room, especially for a pre-season game, but I was getting hyped watching Jake, Shea, and Mason, all the guys making plays. The one year that we didn’t have pre-season was 2021 and I felt like we got off to a slow start offensive in general across the league, myself included,” he said.

“But I was able to get a lot of reps in this training camp. So I feel like I’m in a pretty good rhythm right now and excited to go out there and tee it up on Friday,” he added, referring to the final pre-season game for the Riders when they take on the Bombers in Winnipeg.

Head coach Craig Dickenson said Harris will finally get some reps in.

“I wouldn’t say the majority of the game but for sure we’re going to get him out there. We have a checklist of things we want to see him do and once that checklist is done, we’ll sit him. But he’s got a little bit of work to get and he’s going to get it. We’re probably going to get him some work first quarter, maybe into second,” explained Dickenson.

The picture still remains blurry for Dickenson and his staff on who will be the primary backup this season behind Harris, especially after Jake Dolegala, Mason Fine, and Shea Patterson all had positive performances in last weekend’s game.

“In general, we did get some clarity in other positions but not at the quarterback. All of them played well. So it’s going to be a strenuous week for the quarterbacks. We’re going to test them a little bit and hopefully one of them separates, but I thought all three played well,” Dickenson said.