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The Ottawa Redblacks will be without their most notable player when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the regular season finale on Friday.

After his back “inflamed” in practice earlier this week, wide receiver Justin Hardy will miss the meaningless game, from a standings perspective, in what is being described as a precautionary measure.

“Most importantly, we want to make sure he’s there 100 percent next week,” said Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce, whose team heads to Toronto for the semifinal of the Eastern division of the Canadian Football League on November 2. , ‘Hey, we’re going to release it. We have Dre (Andre Miller), who played a lot of football for us, so we’re just going to put him in the lineup.

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Hardy, a unanimous choice as the Redblacks’ MOP, was in position to set a number of records against Hamilton.

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While leading the CFL in catches with 97, he fell 127 yards short of passing BC’s Justin McInnis to become the first Ottawa player to win a league receiving yards title since Tony Gabriel in 1977.

Hardy’s 1,343 yards are also just 116 shy of Greg Ellingson’s Redblacks single-season record set in 2017 and 128 shy of Gerald Alphin’s Ottawa football record set in 1989.

In his last four matches, Hardy has totaled 103, 117, 111 and 102.

“If you talk to Justin, he only cares about the team’s performance…He doesn’t worry about those things,” Dyce said of his personal accomplishments. “He knows the most important thing for next week is to make sure he’s 100 percent then. So he’s not going to sacrifice himself and we’re certainly not going to sacrifice him just for the sake of records. »

Emerging from a five-game slump by beating the Ticats, who will miss the playoffs but have won five of their last six games, is not a priority for the Rouge et Noir. Playing good football is their goal.

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Other changes to the roster for Game 18 include wide receiver Bralon Addison starting at running back replacing Khalan Laborn. Addison will be supported by return specialist DeVonte Dedmon, who comes off the injured list to play his first game since Week 13.

Trusty defensive end Bryce Carter will also be in attendance for the first time since Week 13.

“We want to make sure we have all of our playmakers on the field,” Dyce said when asked about the position change for Addison, who has carried the ball 19 times for 113 yards this season, but who will make his first start in the backfield. . “Bralon has a great history in this offense and, like I’ve always said, he’s one of the smartest players I’ve been around. He has a great protective spirit and knows all the nuances of this attack.

Scoring 25 unanswered points in last week’s 38-31 loss to Toronto, the Rouge et Noir showed signs of emerging from a fog that saw them win just one game in two months.

They hope to follow a similar path set by the Argos, who trailed the Rouge et Noir 31-3 at halftime on September 7 before winning the final two quarters 24-10.

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Since then, the Argos have four wins in five games.

“This team has always done an incredible job of fighting until the last whistle,” said Rouge et Noir guard Drew Desjarlais. “Gaining positive momentum will always help. We came out of that game (last week) visibly unhappy with ourselves and the missed opportunity to be able to play here at home in the playoffs. But, ultimately, we started to get going a little bit, and hopefully we can use some of that energy this week.

Stressing the importance of “performing at a high level” against the Ticats, Dyce highlights the “opportunity” the Redblacks have in front of them.

“All you have to look at is a situation like Marco (Dubois),” Dyce said of his beloved special teams player, who suffered a season-ending broken collarbone. last week. “Here’s a guy who’s been here since 2018 and played in the Gray Cup that year. We qualify for the playoffs and he won’t get that opportunity (this year). So you have to make the most of every opportunity because you don’t know when you will get the next one.

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This doesn’t mean the Red and Blacks are worried about injuries against Hamilton either.

“We know this is a game we are striving to be at our best in,” Dyce said. “It’s as simple as that. You could get injured in training the same way. So we go in with the same focus that we would have every week to be at our best.

Dedmon can’t wait to get back to competing in a game.

“They come ready,” he said of the Ticats. “They’re going to do everything they can to try to derail us before the playoffs. We’re going to try to build momentum going into the playoffs and they’re going to do everything they can to stop us.

Quarterback Dru Brown says Friday’s game against Hamilton is important because “it’s next.”

“I think we’re failing to discern which plays count and which plays don’t,” Brown said. “We show up because we love to compete and that’s what we do.”

GO DEEP

Other moves for the Redblacks will see Adrian Frye replace Bennett Williams (lead) at linebacker, while Carter takes the place of fellow American Drake Centers, whose left offensive tackle position will be filled by Jacob Ruby and Dontae Bull. Keaton Bruggeling replaces Dubois and Daniel Oladejo replaces Justin Howell (knee).

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