DAVIS READY TO PLAY

By Ian Hamilton, Leader-PostNovember 12, 2009Be the first to post a comment
REGINA — Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Eddie Davis has pronounced himself fit — but another week of recovery won't hurt, either.

Davis suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee Oct. 24 during the Roughriders' 33-30 overtime victory over the B.C. Lions. He had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 28 and missed Saskatchewan's final two regular-season games — including Saturday's 30-14 victory over the Calgary Stampeders that earned the Roughriders first place in the West Division.

As a result of that outcome, the Roughriders have a bye this weekend as Calgary and the Edmonton Eskimos collide in the West semifinal. If Saskatchewan had finished second, it would have played Sunday — and Davis believes he would have been in the lineup.

"If we had to play this weekend, I'd be good to play," the 36-year-old veteran said following Thursday's practice at Mosaic Stadium. "Right now, it's not feeling great; it's not the strongest. It's good that we have the extra week."

Davis said the extra week will be particularly beneficial for him in terms of his conditioning.

"I've been down for a couple of weeks," he said. "It takes a long time to get in shape, but it doesn't take a long time to get out of shape.

"I just needed to run around, get my legs underneath me and see how it feels moving. I haven't run on it at all. I've been riding a bike and everything, but that's not the same. It's good to get out here and move around and have guys pushing on me and on this knee, just seeing what I can and can't take."

Davis wouldn't have been able to take it if his injury was a season-ender. But he said he never thought after sustaining the injury that his season was over.

"Whenever I get hurt, I never think that I can't play," he said. "When I did it, I was trying to get ready to come back into the game. It just tightened up more and more on me and I realized I couldn't come back.

"I didn't think I was going to miss this run to the Grey Cup. Even after the game, I was thinking, 'OK, I'll be ready for next week,' until I got the MRI and it told me what it actually was. I always think, looking at the next game, that I'm going to try to get back and play."

Davis also vowed not to think about his knee over the next two-plus weeks.

"I'm just going to play hard like I normally would and try to make the best of it," he said.