Shaq Evans. (File photo courtesy of Saskatchewan Roughriders)

By Britton Gray/ CJME News

Riders’ Shaq Evans looks to return to form in 2022

Jan 19, 2022 | 5:44 PM

Shaq Evans feels the Saskatchewan Roughriders have some unfinished business.

“I just feel like we were so close and a lot of the guys at the end of the season, we were talking about running it back because we were right there,” Evans said during a media call Wednesday. “I feel like if I want to win a Grey Cup right now, I wouldn’t want to do it in any other place except Saskatchewan.”

The CFL team announced it had re-signed the 30-year-old wide receiver to a contract extension on Tuesday. He could have become a free agent in February.

Evans was among the CFL’s best receivers in 2019, recording 1,334 yards and five touchdowns on 72 receptions.

But in 2021, Evans suffered a broken tibia during the Roughriders’ game Aug. 14 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

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Evans returned on Oct. 23 but only recorded 137 yards on 17 catches in his final five regular-season games. In two playoff games, Evans caught just one pass for a loss of four yards.

“I was just never able to get in a rhythm or in shape like I normally am. I’m highly motivated to shut the doubters up and prove to myself that I am who I think I am,” Evans said.

Evans said while he doesn’t think he came back too early, under different circumstances he might have waited another week before returning from the injury.

“I was still feeling it. It was affecting me. I wasn’t aggressive. I was always looking around and seeing if anyone was going to roll on my ankle because it was still kind of tender,” Evans said.

“The first couple weeks (after the injury) I couldn’t even walk, so I didn’t know how I was going to come back this year. I didn’t think it was going to be possible.”

Evans said he felt his role went from being the team’s top target into becoming more of a decoy so other receivers could find spots in the coverage.

“I was frustrated because you always want to feel like you’re part of the offence, but at the end of the day, we were still winning,” Evans said. “The injury and not having an off-season with COVID and stuff like that contributed to me and (quarterback Cody Fajardo) being just that much off.

“It wasn’t egregious but you could just tell we weren’t in sync.”

Now with the ink dry on his new deal, Evans shifts into recruitment mode to convince other pending free agents to return in 2022.

“Try and get as many guys as we can because I know a lot of us feel the same way. We’ve been right there, literally a play or two away from us being back-to-back champs,” Evans said. “I definitely think recruiting is something I am going to be doing the next however many weeks free agency is going to be.”

And one of the bargaining chips Evans can use to his advantage is the lure of winning a Grey Cup in front of a home crowd — Mosaic Stadium is to host the 2022 championship game.

“You don’t get a chance to win a championship in your home stadium every year,” Evans said. “To have a chance to cement your legacy in that type of way is definitely an opportunity you don’t want to pass up on.”

Riders sign offensive tackle

The Riders added another piece to their offensive line group Wednesday, announcing the signing of American offensive tackle Na’Ty Rodgers.

Rodgers has three years of CFL experience under his belt, playing 10 games in 2018 with the Montreal Alouettes, spending 2019 on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ practice roster and playing four games with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2021.

The Washington product also spent time in the XFL with the Seattle Dragons and Tampa Bay Vipers.

Rodgers played 20 collegiate games and made 19 starts at right tackle over two seasons at the University of Houston in 2016-17.