It’s true that Andre Durie’s excruciating discomfort this summer was different than the pain he’d gone through before. It was more existential than physical, in comparison to what he’d battled through in the past.
What’s also true is that Durie’s extended absence from the Toronto Argonauts’ offence has cost that unit greatly. Along with the simultaneous absence of Chad Owens – and a legion of injured receivers besides them – quarterback Rick Ray has lacked a consistent array of crucial weapons with which to work.
“It’s been two months and it’s felt like two years,” said Durie of his time out of uniform, a time that is mercifully coming to an end.
Injured in Toronto’s second game of the season, a broken clavicle (or collarbone if you prefer) didn’t provide Durie with nearly the physical challenges as the knee he’d blown out while at York University, back in 2005.
That’s the injury that had so many thinking that the young, ‘can’t miss’ prospect might actually do just that, as he sat out the entire 2006 season, rehabilitating that ravaged knee.
Durie’s been through worse physical pain than this, even if the frustration of not playing feels just the same. Maybe worse.
Now, with daunting task of meeting the CFL’s top team, the Calgary Stampeders, just ahead, it will be all systems go for Durie in his quest to return to action; to end the misery of waiting and watching.
“We felt it was borderline,” said Durie, of the aborted attempt to have him play against Hamilton, on Labour Day. An extra week and a half should have him that much more ready for Saturday’s game in Calgary. “I’m pretty much almost back to my max,” he said of his weightlifting abilities, a sign that he’s very near full football-playing power. “It’s been strong, there’s no discomfort anymore,” he added.
There is a lingering question, though, and it’s only natural. How will the collarbone stand up to the brute force of crushing tackles? With limited physical contact in practice, Durie is unsure, but confident.
There has been some testing of the bone’s strength, as the eight-year veteran has gotten his hands up to fend off defenders in practice while working on his blocking. 
“It helps the confidence and it helps you to want to go out there and play even faster,” he said of that contact. “You know it’s strong enough and that it’s gonna hold up.”
“I guess the only question is impact and you never really know that until you start taking impact and fall and do all those things again,” he added.
In comparison to coming all the way back from the knee injury that looked like it would end his pro career before it even started, the knitting together of a clavicle – broken in two places – was a physical cakewalk. Emotionally, a little tougher than that and Durie had to constantly ensure that he wasn’t overdoing things in order to get back in the line-up, even as his mates struggled to make a patchwork offence go in his absence.
“Even though I was feeling okay, I kept having to remind myself that the bone was still broken and that I had to take steps back to make it heal,” Durie said, before revealing that the type of break he suffered was somewhat fortunate. Even with two breaks, Durie’s right clavicle stayed somewhat in place, even as he was walking gingerly off the field that Saturday afternoon in July.
“They(the doctors) said I was fortunate that it did break that way, that it didn’t displace, so I didn’t have to go through surgery and that, structurally, it would grow back strong.”
“There was just a lot of clicking and discomfort. But the pain wasn’t all that bad.”
Surgery would have meant Durie’s entire 2014 season would be dashed and with it, his opportunity to get back in the slot and do what he does best. Rack up yards after catch (YAC).
In 2013, Durie set a CFL single season record for YAC, piling up 685 of them in dodging, cutting, bulldozing fashion. He’d totalled 986 yards receiving in 2013, meaning more than twice his yards gained came after having the ball plopped into his hands out in the flat, or downfield. This season, Durie has caught 10 passes for 130 yards in two games. Of those yards, 104 were YAC.
Now, a summer of frustration almost behind him, Durie practices and hopes that there are no setbacks this week, no last minute disappointments – like the one on Labour Day – to come. He’s scheduled to have another x-ray taken in a day or two, something he’s had done every two weeks. Seeing the progress of his collarbone as it healed has helped his mood, he says.
“I’m just gonna go through this week and take my reps and get the cardio back and start getting on page with Ricky again,” he said, keeping his hopes on simmer.
“We’ll take this week and see how things work out and go from there.”
The Extra Point
– With files from Steve Daniel
You might be surprised to learn that the Argos – even without Durie and Owens – still gather yards after catch with the best of them.
In fact, according to CFL statistics, the Argos lead the league in YAC, with 1,375 yards this season. They are tied for second (with Calgary and Hamilton) in YAC average, at 5.5 yards per.
That’s good, but when you look more deeply into the numbers, you maybe get a further understanding as to why Owens and Durie are so important.
The average Argos’ completion comes 5.4 yards downfield and that is last in the CFL. If you’ve believed that Toronto’s offence has completed a lot of short passes in 2014, you’ve been correct. Comparatively, Saskatchewan leads the league in average completion, downfield, at 8.4 yards per.
What Toronto’s lacked and what Owens and Durie have provided by the bucketful, are big plays. The kind that swing the momentum of a game in an instant. Owens can get open deeper downfield, for starters, and then makes more hay after that. Durie’s abilities come in turning those short passes into much more than 5.5 additional yards.
The B.C. Lions are second to the Argonauts in total YAC this season, with 1,280 yards. Their average downfield completion is 6.2 yards, with 6.7 additional yards on top of that.
Toronto’s average completion (point of reception plus YAC), in 2014, has been 10.9 yards, last in the CFL. Calgary stands first, at 13.4 yards per completion, with B.C. and Saskatchewan tied for second, at 12.9 per.
It might seem like nitpicking. Over the course of a season, that adds up.
But, maybe what these numbers truly tell us is something we don’t see in them. Something we already knew: That Andre Durie and Chad Owens make big plays at opportune times. And that is what any offence needs.
