Samuel Emilus full participant in practice as Riders eye return of ‘three-headed monster’

Photo: Tanner Piper/Piper Sports Photography/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are eyeing the return of at least one of their top receiving weapons this week, possibly more.

Canadian standout Samuel Emilus was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and appears likely to be ready to go against the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday.

“I feel good. Being off a couple of months, it always feels good to be back with the boys and being outside running and get back on the field, for sure,” Emilus told the Regina media afterwards.

“I think it’s a lot of people excited to see me back on the field, and I’m excited to be back on the field also. That’s my passion. I love playing football. Obviously, being back and being on the field and making some plays is definitely gonna bring some spark back to the team.”

Emilus suffered a lower leg injury in Week 12 against the B.C. Lions, which landed him on the six-game injured list. He previously missed three games with a foot issue.

The Montreal native has caught 38 passes for 514 yards and five touchdowns through seven regular-season games this year. He signed a contract extension in the offseason, which made him the second-highest paid receiver in the CFL this year.

The 28-year-old helped the Roughriders win the Grey Cup last year. He made 10 receptions for 108 yards to be named the game’s Most Valuable Canadian. The former first-round CFL Draft pick has amassed 242 receptions for 3,428 yards and 18 touchdowns over 64 career regular-season games with Saskatchewan, earning All-West Division in 2024.

While Emilus’ potential return could be the most exciting, it may not be the only addition of note this week. Team-leading receiver KeeSean Johnson, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, was limited on Wednesday, but ran with the starting unit alongside Kian Schaffer-Baker, who made his own return to the lineup three weeks ago after an extended injury absence.

“It’s strange just to see them all in the huddle at the same time,” veteran quarterback Trevor Harris acknowledged. “Obviously, short week, and they haven’t gotten a lot of reps, so it’ll be interesting to see how this week plays out. But whenever you get three All-Star-caliber receivers that can be in the huddle with you, it’s something that we haven’t had the good fortune of in terms of keeping them healthy the last two years. If that happens, that’d be great.”

“It’s like the three-head monster,” Emilus added. “We feed off of each other, and all three being back is obviously gonna bring some power on the offence.”

The trio of Emilus, Johnson, and Schaffer-Baker have not all been in the lineup at the same time since Week 8. Unlike the mythical hydra, the new heads that grew in their places were not nearly as fierce. Schaffer-Baker remains second in team receiving yards with 961 despite playing nine games, behind only Johnson with 1,243. Emilus sits fourth after just seven.

Most importantly, the Riders were 4-2 with their trio available. They have gone 4-6 without their full complement of weapons. Last week’s 44-24 loss to the Alouettes, which came without both Emilus and Johnson, marked the team’s fourth consecutive defeat.

“Ask Montreal how it would be if (Tyler) Snead and (Tyson) Philpot were out for most of the season. Probably change the offence, the way they go about things, the way they’d orient things,” Harris said.

“Like I said, we don’t know what’s going to happen this week. They’re gutting through some stuff, and so we’ll see how it goes. But if you do get them back; it for sure makes a difference. There’s a reason why you pay them, and there’s a reason why they get accolades and attention, and people write about them in the newspapers, and you see them making big highlights.”

The Riders (8-8) won’t need to make a decision on the status of any of their top targets until depth charts are released on Friday. They will host the Alouettes (13-3) for a rematch on Saturday, October 17, at 3:00 p.m. EDT.