October 25, 2018

Notebook: Better late than never for Lavar Edwards

Lavar Edwards has saved his best for last.

The 28-year-old defensive lineman was added to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ practice roster on Tuesday — just four days before the CFL team is to play its last game of the 2018 regular season.

On Thursday, Edwards was taking snaps with the Roughriders’ first-team defence. There aren’t any guarantees, of course, but Edwards hopes that means he’ll get to play Saturday when Saskatchewan is to face the visiting B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN).

“Whatever they need me to do or whatever they ask me to do, I’m willing to do it because I’m blessed to have the opportunity to be able to play football again,” Edwards said Thursday.

“It doesn’t matter to me (that it’s the last week of the Roughriders’ regular season). As long as I get to play, it doesn’t matter.”

Edwards hasn’t played in a game since Dec. 31, 2017, when he dressed for the Cleveland Browns in their 28-24 NFL loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Edwards’ time in Cleveland marked his ninth (and final) stop in the NFL over a five-year span.

After playing in the Senior Bowl following his final season at LSU, the 6-foot-4, 271-pound product of Gretna, La., was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the 2013 draft.

Edwards played seven games for the Titans before being traded to the Dallas Cowboys in August of 2014. Over the next four years, he had stops in Oakland, Chicago, Dallas again, Buffalo, Carolina, Indianapolis and Cleveland.

He recorded 23 tackles, two sacks and two pass knockdowns in 25 career NFL games.

“(Bouncing around) is frustrating, I can’t lie, but I just want to stay resilient and keep working hard,” said Edwards, who still isn’t sure why he couldn’t stick in the NFL.

“As long as my body allows me to play football, I want to play. No matter whether I feel like I should have been here or I should have been there, as long as I keep getting the opportunity to play, then I’m going to continue to do what teams ask of me and continue to play hard. Hopefully it’ll pay off for me in the end.”

His resiliency has brought him to the CFL and to a Roughriders team that has lost defensive tackles Mic’hael Brooks and Curt Maggitt to injury in recent weeks. Edwards’ timing might be impeccable.

“Being off for so long, I didn’t know if my football career was over or not,” he said. “At the same time, I always told myself, ‘They’re going to have to kick me out.’ I always wanted to make sure I stayed ready to play so that if I did another call, I’d be ready.”

Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said the coaches have been giving Edwards a crash course on the defensive system in case they decide to use him Saturday against the Lions.

“We’ll see if he’s going to be part of what we’re doing,” Jones said, “but we expect if he does (join the defence), he should be very productive.”

“It’s tough (to be ready in less than a week) because you’ve got to get used to the different rules and learn a new system and that’s always tough in a short amount of time,” Edwards added. “But the guys in the defensive line room have done a great job helping me out. It hasn’t been too hard.”

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The Roughriders will set their roster for Saturday’s game on Friday, so it wasn’t clear Thursday if Edwards would play.

The same goes for slotback Naaman Roosevelt, who was activated early off the six-game injured list Wednesday.

Asked Thursday if Roosevelt would return after missing four games with a knee injury, Jones said: “It looks as if he might.”

“There’s a fine line when you bring a guy off the six(-game list) to make sure that he’s healthy — or healthy enough to play in the game,” Jones said. “That’s the key. From what I can gather, it looks as if he will be OK.”

Jones also noted that defensive end Charleston Hughes, who was deactivated for last Saturday’s game against the Calgary Stampeders due to a legal matter, likely will play against the Lions.

The Roughriders did announce four transactions late Thursday. Released from the practice roster were national defensive back Tristan Doughlin and three internationals (tailback Sherman Badie, quarterback Drew Powell and offensive lineman Chris Schleuger).

•••

B.C. has a couple of proven commodities at defensive end in Odell Willis and Shawn Lemon and the Roughriders will have to know where those two players are during Saturday’s game.

Lemon goes into the week ranked third in the CFL with 11 sacks, while Willis is fourth with 10.

“They both are veteran pass-rushers who know how to play,” Jones said. “Sometimes they pick and choose when to play fast, but they know exactly how to make plays — and they make plays behind the line of scrimmage in big moments and big situations.

“You don’t play for as long as they’ve played without being really good players.”

•••

Saskatchewan can clinch a home playoff game with a win or a tie Saturday.

It’s still not clear whether that would be the Western Semi-Final on Nov. 11 or the Western Final on Nov. 18, but the Roughriders are well aware that they can guarantee a post-season game will be played in Mosaic Stadium if they can beat (or tie) the Lions.

“We know the importance of trying to play at home,” Jones said. “With this organization, part of the pride is to try to play as many home games as we can and host a playoff game. That’s what the good teams do, so that’s what we’re trying to strive for.”