It was one of the major topics of conversation all week leading up to the CFL game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Redblacks.
Just what were the Green and White going to do with a receiving corps that had lost a pair of potential 1,000 yard receivers to injury in the past week?
The final answer proved to be the same as their answer any time the question was asked: next man up.
Quarterback Trevor Harris threw for over 400 yards for the third time this season, Johnny Johnson III, Dylan Djete and D’Sean Mimbs all had solid games catching the ball, and KeeSean Johnson was KeeSean Johnson. And the end result was a 42-20 victory at Mosaic Stadium.
“As I told you guys yesterday, this is a group that’s never going to flinch,” Harris said in the aftermath. “I believe in those guys and it’s my job as the quarterback to get them at the top of their routes and deliver the mail at the right time and let them do their thing. And they did their thing all night.”
A good number of eyes were on Djete at wide receiver. Stepping in for the injured Sam Emilus, the rookie pass catcher would go on to hall in four catches for 53 yards, including an 18-yard catch for his first CFL touchdown in the third quarter.
“It was awesome, that’s what it’s about,” Harris said. “To see him catch that in route and shed one and get in the end zone was super awesome. Just seeing the smile on the young guys’ faces when they score that first touchdown is so cool… I’m just so proud of him for doing the work.”
The Riders wasted no time getting Djete the ball, as he caught a pass on their first play of the game. That was a big moment for the Levis, Que., product as it helped settle him down and get into the game.
“Thanks to (offensive coordinator Marc Mueller) for that,” Djete said. “It was just a breath of fresh air, like ‘all right, I got my first one, now we good’. It felt good, it just felt natural.”
Then came the touchdown, and the biggest moment thus far of his career.
“It means everything,” Djete said. “We talked about it this week, I’ve been preparing myself. I’ve been going through a lot with the injury, but mentally I was there. When the opportunity came I just had to do what I had to do.”
Rookie Johnny Johnson III also had an outstanding outing, catching all seven passes that came his way and going for 117 yards on the night.
“He’s a stud, man,” lauded Harris. “There’s a lot of times the last few games where he’ll kill a guy on a route on the backside and unfortunately we read the other side of the field. He’s a dynamic receiver and he knows we’re going to be leaning on him while we have two of our big guns out. He’s just happy to do his part and he’s a really good guy.”
And then there’s KeeSean. There was little question that the passing game was likely going to revolve around the third-year veteran and 1,000-yard receiver, and that was certainly the case. He’d end up leading the team with 11 catches for 133 yards while adding another touchdown to his ledger.
Johnson had spent a good part of the week working with his younger compatriots and wasn’t surprised to see them step up alongside himself.
“I see the guys come out every day at practice and it's no let off, no matter who's in the game,” he said. “You guys can see it tonight, there's guys that came in and made plays. We have confidence in everybody in our room, we hold ourselves to a high standard.”
For his part, Harris was pretty much expecting his veteran receiver to rise to the occasion and wasn’t surprised in the least when that’s exactly what happened.
“I told KeeSean before the game, there are times where you gotta lean into people like him and myself and we’ve gotta make sure we’re making plays to give this team momentum and belief,” Harris said.
“That’s who KeeSean is, he’s an elite receiver in this league. He’ll probably tell you about the two he dropped today, but we’re always going to go right back to that guy. He’s elite.”
The Roughriders are now off until Tuesday before beginning preparation for their next outing, which takes place on Saturday, Aug. 15 in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats.
