'I'm excited': Riders' Harris to miss pre-season game for birth of son

Trevor Harris at Riders' training camp. (Chad Hills / CTV News)

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback, Trevor Harris, announced he would miss the remainder of Week 2 of training camp and the team’s first pre-season game for the birth of his third child.

“Unfortunately practice is at the time when the flight goes out. So I’m going to get out here early tomorrow and get some work in before I leave,” Harris said on Tuesday.

However, the timing does work out well for the veteran quarterback who noted his first two sons were born during the off-season and the pandemic so he has not had to miss any crucial time on the field.

This time around, he shared the Riders told him he was not going to suit up for this weekend’s pre-season matchup against the BC Lions anyway.

“It’s a tough time to leave but at the same time, the team has done a great job telling me they weren’t going to let me miss this. It’s tough leaving camp at this point but obviously if you missed the birth of your child for a game they told me I wasn’t going to play in anyway, it would be a tough one to live with the wife with after, right?” Harris joked.

Harris is headed back to his home state of Ohio for the special occasion.

“My wife goes into the hospital tomorrow in the early evening. So I’m not even getting to go home. I’m going to sleep in the hospital chair for two nights and take the kid home then I’ll be back the next day. But I’m excited that I get to go home and see such a beautiful moment and be there for my best friend in the world, who is my wife. I’ll be watching from afar and know what’s going on,” he added.

Now the Riders are tasked with showcasing their backup quarterbacks in Saturday’s game and head coach Craig Dickenson is still not sure how the team plans to break up the quarterback play between Jake Dolegala, Mason Fine, Shea Patterson, and Noah Pelletier.

“Trevor won’t be there so it’ll be the other three, we’re going to try and give them equal reps,” Dickenson said.

Harris will get one more pre-season opportunity when Saskatchewan takes on Winnipeg next weekend on the road.

“It’s one of those things that obviously I would like to play all four quarters in the first and second game but, you know, it’s not my call, and they told me what to do and I play for them,” said Harris.