Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo has been sporting a brace on his left knee with a noticeable limp since Week 2.
Fajardo initially suffered the setback against Edmonton and he’s wearing the extra protection for longer than expected.
“Two weeks ago it got worse than what the initial diagnosis was but after this last week, I didn’t take any shots to it — I’m progressing. I was supposed to be out of the knee brace this week but now I’ll be in it until the bye week,” Fajardo said.
“No setbacks and as the week’s progress I think it’ll get better, but it felt good to almost feel like myself, minus the big ole knee brace on me. I felt like I was moving much better this week. Hopefully, I don’t take any bad hits to it, keep progressing and feel like myself.”
The 30-year-old QB carried the ball 15 times for 52 yards and one touchdown in the first two games of the schedule. Over the last three outings, Fajardo has rushed nine times for 26 yards and one major. He’s making a concerted effort to stay in the pocket and decrease the chances for a hit on his injured left knee.
“I’m trying to work on a little bit more pocket passing, something that I haven’t had to rely on a lot as a quarterback my entire career because I’ve used my legs so much. Trying to dial in, I think it’ll help me in the long term, down the end when we gotta make some throws in the pocket,” Fajardo said.
“It’s hard during the season to come all the way back from something like that. He’s still good enough to win with, if he’s 80 percent, we hope by the end of the year he’s 95. Hopefully, he’ll heal up to the point where feels close. Maybe after a bye, we got a couple byes later in the year, maybe he’ll get that knee back,” head coach Craig Dickenson said.
While leading Saskatchewan to a 2-1 record on his bum knee, Fajardo has completed 52-of-79 pass attempts (66 percent) for 646 passing yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. The Riders’ franchise QB believes he can rehab back to full health during the season.
“We’ll see after the bye week how I feel and what the docs say about it,” Fajardo said. “There’s a good possibility I’ll be 100 percent after the bye week, barring nothing crazy or a setback.”
