The Ottawa Redblacks will be without defensive back Money Hunter and receiver Shaq Evans to begin the CFL season, as both players have suffered long-term injuries.
According to a report from Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun, Hunter suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the team’s intra-squad scrimmage last week. Head coach Bob Dyce provided no specific timeline for recovery but said the cornerback is expected to be out for “months.” Meanwhile, Evans broke his finger in Friday’s preseason loss to the Montreal Alouettes and could miss four to eight weeks.
Hunter was entering his second season as a Redblack after starting 12 games for team in 2022, recording 38 tackles and four interceptions — a new career high.
The 27-year-old broke into the league as a member of the Edmonton Elks in 2018 and played two seasons with the team, making 85 defensive tackles 11 special teams tackles, four interceptions, and one sack over 30 games with the team.
The six-foot-one, 193-pound cover man signed with the Montreal Alouettes in February 2020 and made his debut with the team in August 2021 following the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season. He made 44 defensive tackles, one special teams tackle, two interceptions, and one sack with the club and was named an East Division all-star.
Evans joined the Redblacks in free agency after spending the past four years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was targeted nine times in his preseason debut but hauled in just two catches for 39 yards.
The 31-year-old has made 179 receptions for 2,830 yards and seven touchdowns over 52 career CFL games, all with Saskatchewan. He was named a league all-star in 2019 following a breakout season during which he made 72 catches for 1,334 yards and five touchdowns.
However, the six-foot-one, 210-pound target has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, dressing for only 17 games since the league returned to the field coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. He suffered the same injury in back-to-back years, albeit on different legs: he broke a bone in his left leg in 2021 and a broken bone in his right leg in 2022.
Evans was a fourth-round pick of the New York Jets in the 2014 NFL Draft and spent four years bouncing around the league with Jacksonville, New England, and Dallas before coming to the CFL in 2018.
The Redblacks are slated to wrap up their preseason on the road against the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday, June 1.
