Jeff Knox Jr., knows a thing or two about injuries.
During the 2016 CFL season, Knox played 17 regular-season games with the Saskatchewan Roughriders despite suffering from two sports hernias.
A knee injury suffered by Sam Eguavoen gave Knox an opportunity to play more last season — and another injury sustained by Eguavoen on Saturday is providing Knox with more playing time in 2017.
The 25-year-old product of Pittsburgh is expected to start at weak-side linebacker for the Roughriders on Friday, when they play host to the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium.
“It’s always unfortunate to see a teammate like Eguavoen go down,” Knox said after Saskatchewan practised Wednesday at Mosaic Stadium. “He’s a good friend of mine and to see him hurt is devastating to me because I don’t like that.
“But it’s always next man up and I’ve got to step into a role just like any other time. I’ve been a starter in this league and I know what I need to do when game time comes.”
Knox joined the Roughriders in 2015 out of California University of Pennsylvania and won the job as their starting weak-side linebacker.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder was impressive as a CFL rookie, setting a single-season franchise record with 114 defensive tackles en route to being named the team’s nominee for three league awards (most outstanding player, most outstanding defensive player and most outstanding rookie).
Last season, Eguavoen won the weak-side job in training camp, bumping Knox to a backup role. But Eguavoen’s season ended after just six games due to a knee injury, allowing Knox to return to the starting unit.
He finished the season with 65 defensive tackles and 20 special-teams stops — all while playing with two sports hernias.
Knox first suffered the injury toward the end of his rookie season. He rested it through the off-season, but it flared up again in training camp. An MRI eventually discovered that he had abdominal tears on both sides of his groin.
“It was hard to run and hard to move laterally — it was a tough season,” Knox said. “But I had to play through it. I was told by the doctors that it couldn’t get any worse, which was the truth, so I was like, ‘Why not keep playing?’
“Then I ended up tearing my meniscus as well (in his left knee).”
Knox finished out the regular season with that injury as well as the sports hernias. In January, he signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Knox went through training camp and played three pre-season games with the Buccaneers before being released. He returned to the Roughriders on Sept. 11, only to find Eguavoen once again in the weak-side spot.
Eguavoen has been a force on the Roughriders’ defence this season, recording 55 tackles, two quarterback pressures and one sack. He had 32 tackles over Saskatchewan’s past six games, including nine in an 18-17 victory over the host Redblacks on Sept. 29.
But the second-year Roughrider was dinged during the second quarter of Saturday’s 27-24 victory over the host Toronto Argonauts, giving Knox a chance to play more. He finished the contest with two tackles and a quarterback pressure.
“I’m a competitor, so of course it’s tough,” Knox said of waiting for an opportunity. “But you’ve got to come to work with a great attitude and prepare like you’re a starter even if you’re not in that role at that moment.
“Anything can happen, so that’s what I always pride myself on doing.”
While getting to start on the weak side could make Knox flash back to 2015 and his standout season as a CFL freshman, he won’t go there.
“My rookie year is in the past,” he said. “But I’m definitely at home in this position. It comes naturally. It’s as easy as cutting off one half of the field. If I communicate with my half of the field, we can be efficient on the weak side.”
Like Eguavoen, strong-side linebacker Otha Foster III was put on the Roughriders’ six-game injured list Tuesday.
Foster hurt his back on the first play of his first game with Saskatchewan this season — a 27-19 victory over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sept. 15 — but he recovered sufficiently to play in games against the Calgary Stampeders on Sept. 24 and the Redblacks two weeks ago.
However, Foster’s back forced him to miss the game in Toronto and he was replaced by Derrick Moncrief. With Foster out of the lineup again Friday, Moncrief will make his second consecutive start (and his third of the season) at the strong-side spot.
According to middle linebacker Henoc Muamba, the key to overcoming the changes to the starting crew will be communication — and the fact that he has played before with both Knox and Moncrief will help in that area.
“Continuity is always a huge thing in pro football,” Muamba said. “Knowing what kind of player Knox is will allow me to play not only to my strength but also to his strength. I know when he’ll be where he’ll be at and it’s the same thing with Moncrief.
“These guys have been good. With a little more communicating, we’re going to be effective as a defence.”
