Jameer Thurman, a superbly conditioned athlete, ensured that his phone also got a strenuous workout when the Saskatchewan Roughriders last appeared in a CFL game.
That was on Thursday, when the Roughriders and the host Ottawa REDBLACKS played to a 22-22 tie.
Thurman was back in Regina, watching on television, while nursing an elbow injury he had suffered the previous week.
“I know he was itching and trying to text people or something during the game,” Head Coach Corey Mace said. “It was like, ‘Hey, everybody’s busy right now, Thurm.’
“He loves being out there and we love having him.”
The 29-year-old middle linebacker will be out there again on Friday, when the Roughriders oppose the Montreal Alouettes (7 p.m., Mosaic Stadium) in a marquee matchup of division leaders.
A return to live action will be a tonic for Thurman, whose restless viewing of last week proved that one can also work up a sweat while watching a game at home.
“It was honestly hard,” he said. “Even if I wasn’t playing, I wanted to be on the sideline, because I know some of the things that go on in the league. I wanted to be there for my brothers.
“It was tough being here. I was just trying to communicate as much as possible, pre-game and post-game, what I saw and what we needed. I just wanted to be there any way I could, even if I wasn’t there.”
Thurman did his utmost to remain calm, but nonetheless found himself standing for most of the fourth quarter and through both periods of overtime.
It was something that, well, he couldn’t stand.
So there he was on Monday, back on the practice field. His level of participation was designated as “limited” when the Roughriders posted this week’s Day 1 injury update.
The Day 2 designation: “Full participant.”
“I take my recovery extremely seriously and I let everyone know that,” he said. “Most of my time is spent either watching film in here or taking care of my body.
“Being at home, even when I’m taking a break from watching film, I’m still doing something to take care of my body. I’m going to harp on that as much as possible.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure I’m out there for my guys on game day.”
That is hardly a surprise to Mace.
“I’d like to say we’re built the same, but it’s not the truth,” the former defensive tackle said with a laugh.
“Thurm puts so much time into his body, not just in the weight room but with how he takes care of himself outside the facility with his treatments.
“I don’t know how much the guy probably spends for chiro, massage and all this extra stuff. He truly treats his body as the most important thing, with sleep, rest and how he eats.
“To see him and his work ethic and how he can recover from things and/or push through certain things that maybe the average person can’t doesn’t shock me, because he’s just a worker and he treats his body as what it is.”
Thurman already has an impressive body of work as a Roughrider.
Over eight games this season, he has three fumble recoveries (tops in the league), four defensive takeaways (one of which was an interception-return touchdown), 36 defensive tackles (including two for a loss) and one forced fumble.
A high-priority free-agent signing in February, Thurman has played a key role in the resurgence of a Roughriders team that carries a 5-3-1 record into the second half of the regular season.
“At the halfway point, to be first in the West, that is a good place to be,” he said. “At the same time, it’s only the halfway point.
“We’ve got to be able to finish and it starts this week on Friday — being able to finish games and close out games and not leaving it in other people’s hands.”
Thurman was alluding to an earlier meeting with Montreal, which overcame a 16-3 halftime deficit and defeated the Roughriders 20-16 on July 25 at Percival Molson Stadium.
“We know what we did wrong that game,” Thurman stated. “We know we came out flat in the second half and it cost us a win, so we put that on our shoulders as a defence.
“We’re better than that and we’re going to be better the next time we go against them. You’ve got to play a full four quarters. You can’t play a half in this league.”
