A promising start to the 2022 season has been derailed for the Saskatchewan Roughriders Shaq Evans.

The wide receiver was sidelined with a sprained ankle in the opening quarter of the Riders 37-13 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in Week 3.

Evans was a guest on Monday’s edition of the SportsCage with Michael Ball where he said that his latest injury will likely sideline him for the next 6-8 weeks.

Moments after suffering the injury, the 31-year-old was holding out for hope despite knowing he had just likely suffered a significant setback. “I felt the crack and I knew it wasn’t going to be good.”

It remains to be seen when Evans exactly will return to the Riders roster, but he has already targeted to return by the annual Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers since he missed the game last season.

A veteran presence to the young Rider receiving room is something that Shaq will be looking to provide over the next couple of months. A pair of receivers that Evans think could take on a bigger role in his absence are Samuel Emilus and Jakob Prall.

Evans called the 2022 1st round pick and a smooth, fluid runner and a very coachable player. “He’s a guy that’s soaking everything in and he’s humble.” Shaq added  “He wants to work, he just wants to work, and that’s what I love about him.”

Fearlessness is what immediately jumped out for Shaq when he was watching Prall at rookie camp this spring. The product of Brown University impressed the Riders veteran to the point where he wasn’t surprised that Prall made Saskatchewan’s opening day roster. “He’s a guy that’s just going to work hard, he’s also humble, he’s always asking me questions and things like that and you can tell he wants to get better each and every week.”

Before his latest setback, Evans enjoyed a successful start to the season with ten receptions for 185 yards. The ten receptions ranks second for the Riders this season while his Evan’s receiving total ranks number one on the team.