Duke Williams in, Charleston Hughes out against the Montreal Alouettes


The Riders have activated star receiver Duke Williams for Thursday’s game against the host Montreal Alouettes.

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MONTREAL — Duke Williams is back.

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders have activated the star receiver in advance of Thursday’s CFL game against the host Montreal Alouettes (5:30 p.m., TSN).

Williams suffered an ankle injury during a practice on June 15. He was sidelined for Saturday’s 26-16 win over the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium, but Riders head coach Craig Dickenson feels that Williams is good to go.

“Do I think Duke’s 100 per cent?” Dickenson told reporters before leaving for Montreal. “No, but he’s 90, and Duke at 90 is still pretty good.”

Dickenson also said that quarterback Cody Fajardo won’t be 100 per cent for the game. Fajardo has been wearing a brace on the left knee that the quarterback injured in Saturday’s game.

“He’s similar to Duke,” Dickenson said. “He’s probably not 100 per cent, but I would say that he’s 90. (We’ll) brace him up and he’s going to be good.”

Mitchell Picton filled in for Williams, scoring the game-winning touchdown and the subsequent convert at 11:04 of the fourth quarter.

“(Picton) is the backup across the board for all of the receivers,” Dickenson said. “If Duke’s a little bit winded or not quite right, we’ll put Picton in there.”

Also being activated are defensive back Malcolm Lee, offensive lineman Jamal Campbell and defensive lineman Keion Adams.

As expected, centre Dan Clark was placed on the six-game injured list. Clark suffered a broken right fibula and shifted ankle bone late in Saturday’s game, Clark tweeted that he underwent successful surgery on Sunday. Rookie Logan Bandy is starting in Clark’s absence.

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Veteran defensive end Charleston Hughes, defensive back Damon Webb (undisclosed) and fullback Bruno LaBelle (calf) were all placed on the one-game injured list.

Hughes, 38, didn’t practise on Tuesday. According to Dickenson, Hughes has shoulder and elbow issues. Dickenson added that Hughes has quite a bit of rehab to do while dealing with “soreness, muscle pain and a little bit of stiffness.”

“He could have played, but he’s beat up pretty good, so we wanted to give him a week off and try to heal him up,” Dickenson said. “He’s legitimately injured. We feel like Adams has had a good week of practice, so we’re going to dress the healthier guy and the guy who’s fresh.”

The Riders (2-0) have a nine-day break after Thursday’s game. The Alouettes (0-2) are to meet the Riders at Mosaic Stadium on July 2.

However, the Riders have had only five days off and one on-field practice since playing Edmonton. They were to charter to Montreal on Wednesday.

“It’s just a long time on the plane, and you get dehydrated when you’re on the plane that long,” Dickenson said. “The (two-hour) time change messes with guys’ clocks a little bit.

“Montreal’s a good team. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a run and being pretty darned good by the end of the year. I think this 0-and-2 start, honestly, is unusual. They haven’t played like 0-and-2. They’ve done a better job than that.”

The Alouettes will be without quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and receiver Jake Wieneke. Adams is out after testing positive for COVID-19. Wieneke has an injured hamstring.

Adams is to be replaced by Trevor Harris. Dante Absher takes over for Wieneke.

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