Saskatchewan Roughriders defenseman Trevor Harris overcame a mid-season throwing shoulder injury and came out the other side feeling great heading into a Gray Cup victory.
During the Riders' 33–27 Week 7 victory over the BC Lions, defensive lineman Kemoko Turay hit Harris and injured his right shoulder. In the win, the 39-year-old QB completed 23 of 30 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
“This stayed for a while. [Head athletic therapist] Greg [Mayer] gave some injections, that's there were shoulder issues and things like that that linger,” Harris said.
“It was a case of me holding it to throw one deep on top and stuck at the bottom. I think number 58 is for BC got me, but I'm fine – it doesn't affect me performance.”
From Weeks 8 to 15, there was a seven-game stretch in which Harris threw for 300 or more yards just once. In his last two games, he threw for 351 and 341 yards, respectively.
“Draw 100 percent; It's not something special, I'm going through some kind of madness thing. I don't think there are many people who are 100 percent into this. period,” Harris said, admitting that he played through a partially torn ACL in 2024.
The six-foot-three, 212-pound QB said, “That’s not it.” He was referring to the difference in play due to ligament damage and a throwing shoulder injury.
“Your throwing shoulder, this might take a little time. sometimes gets knocked off the ball, but that doesn't limit it to some extent to me,” Harris explained. – One of those things [where it is] it's hard to break free stay free and watch. It feels a ton better now, last week and especially this week, I felt probably my best.”
In 14 starts in 2025, Harris completed 72.7 percent of his passes for 4,097 yards (292.6 per game) with 22 touchdowns against 11 interceptions while compiling a 10-4 win-loss record.
Head coach Corey Mays says he will consider resting Harris if the Riders finish first in the West Division. Saskatchewan needs to beat Toronto on Friday night to earn the right to host the Western final at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday, November 8 at 6:30 pm ET/5:30 pm CT.
“I've always liked the colder games, the times when it gets a little chilly and the fresh air because the games mean more,” Harris said. “They still count as two points in the win column if you win, but now is the most important time to play winning football. Not just winning games, but playing winning football and playing championship level football.”
