Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Veteran tailback Wes Cates is putting his best foot forward in Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp.

“One of the big questions coming in was how comfortable he was going to be with his foot after it was broken (late last season),” offered head coach Ken Miller after Day 2 of camp at Mosaic Stadium. “This morning when I talked to him his foot was really pretty good from (Sunday). That’s the big thing is just his physical health because he is a tremendous back.”

Cates was Saskatchewan’s top rusher last season with 866 yards, despite starting just 14 regular-season games. He was acquired early in the campaign from the Calgary Stampeders for veteran offensive lineman Rob Lazeo.

Cates, a backup in Calgary, was well on his way to a 1,000-yard season with the Riders when he suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot on Oct. 14. He missed four games before returning to play in the West final and Grey Cup, requiring a pre-game shot to numb the pain.

That injury has evidently healed, allowing Cates to participate in the first two days of training camp. He’s being pushed by a pair of high-profile offseason recruits with NFL credentials — Jamal Robertson and Quentin Griffin — but the starting tailback job still appears to be Cates’ to lose.

“Right now he clearly is No. 1,” said Miller.

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Asked who stood out on Day 2, Miller singled out one rookie on offence and one veteran on defence.

“Adarius Bowman made some nice catches,” said the head coach. “We had to limit what he did a little bit because he’s a little tight in the hamstrings, but he was really special. (Middle linebacker) Mo Lloyd was special on defence. I thought our defence had a spectacular day. They have a lot of stuff in for this being the second day so to get something going consistently on offence was a little tough.”

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