Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON – Ryan King’s rookie season in the Canadian Football League appears to have come to an abrupt end.
The Edmonton Eskimo long-snapper separated his shoulder during Saturday’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. His left arm in a sling after the Eskimos’ 37-20 win, he was making his way around the locker room, filling in teammates on what happened to him.
“It was the last play of the first half,” King said, describing Grant Shaw’s missed 45-yard field goal.
“I was running down and saw (a Saskatchewan player) coming from the left and didn’t think we were going to hit each other because the play was already kind of gone. Then I think he got me kind of in the back a little bit. I ended up landing on my shoulder, separated shoulder, and got an A.C. tear.”
The A.C. is the acromioclavicular joint. King said that the trainers told him he could expect to be out anywhere from three to six weeks.
The Eskimos have three regular season games remaining.
Matt O’Donnell filled in for King in the second half Saturday. The hulking offensive lineman, who stands six-foot-nine and weighs 340 pounds, signed with the Eskimos on Sept. 17 after general manager Eric Tillman acquired his rights by trading receiver Greg Carr to Saskatchewan on Sept. 5.
King didn’t know who hit him. The TSN camera didn’t show him after Shaw’s field goal attempt was missed.
“Everyone’s trying to tee off on the long snapper is kind of what it seems like,” he said. “We’ll have to see the film. I don’t know what it looks like on film, but all I know is I remember getting hit from what I think was behind.”
If this is the end of King’s season, he did have an impact in the game. Former Eskimo kick-returner Tristan Jackson dropped a punt return in the first quarter and King pounced on the ball, giving Edmonton possession at the Riders’ 29-yard line.
The Eskimos ended up giving the ball right back to the Roughriders, who eventually scored a touchdown, but Edmonton recovered to reel off 20 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
“It was a big play and the first snap of the game. I was trying to run down and make a play,” King said of his fumble recovery. “It fell off of his hand and I got down there pretty quick and I just jumped on it.
“It was going real good and it sucks that these things happen in the game. You can’t do much about it.”
Etienne Legare was the Esks’ backup long-snapper to start the season, but is on the nine-game injured list. While O’Donnell filled in on Saturday, the long-term replacement this season could be Mike Benson, a former Acadia University Axemen linebacker and long-snapper.
Benson is on the practice roster and has worked at his craft since signing with the Eskimos on June 11.
coleary@edmontonjournal.com
Twitter.com/olearychris
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