Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Saskatchewan Roughriders tailback Wes Cates is sidelined for the remainder of the CFL season with a stress fracture in his left foot. The diagnosis was confirmed Wednesday.

“That’s the bad news,” Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman said. “The good news is the bone is in total allignment, not misplaced at all, and the prognosis is very, very good.

“God love him. Wes wants to play this weekend so much and, no doubt, he is a special talent. But, we’re taking the exact same approach with Wes that we took with Matt (Dominguez, who is gone for the season with a knee injury). The long-term good supersedes the short-term wishes.”

Cates has missed the past four games. Roughriders head coach Kent Austin said Cates had an MRI and CAT scan on Tuesday. Cates was the Riders’ leading rusher with 866 yards on 152 carries and five touchdowns.

Backup tailback Josh Ranek completed a full practice Wednesday and didn’t appear to be suffering any effects from a possible concussion he may have suffered in Sunday’s 26-24 West semifinal victory over the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium.

“We need to see how (Ranek) responds and see if there are any symptoms after practice,” said Austin. “He went through a pretty hard workout and he didn’t have any symptoms regarding his concussion. We’re not even sure that it was a full concussion.”

Austin said the situation is brighter in terms of fullback Chris Szarka returning Sunday. Austin was to talk to doctors Wednesday about Szarka, who partially severed two fingers on his left hand during a table-saw accident at his Regina home on Oct, 15. Szarka was in attendance for part of Wednesday’s practice but didn’t participate in any drills.

Corey Holmes, meanwhile, took his regular repetitions at tailback Wednesday. Holmes suffered a neck stinger on Sunday but isn’t suffering any ill effects. Holmes replaced Cates in the West semifinal.