Jesse Lumsden isn’t giving up on this season or his CFL career.
The Edmonton Eskimos tailback said Sunday he fully expects to be back in the lineup later this year after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the club’s season-opening 19-17 win over Winnipeg on Thursday. The injury was to Lumsden’s left shoulder, which has twice required surgery to repair previous damage.
“There is some damage in there but the previous surgery was not damaged, which is a positive,” Lumsden said. “This is a completely new injury, I’ve never had a dislocation before so it’s something that’s not relative to any past injuries that I’ve had on the shoulder.
“It’s not recurring, which is positive, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it actually happened.”
Lumsden said he has undergone an MRI on his shoulder and is waiting to hear back from medical personnel regarding the extent of the injury and exactly how long he will be out of the lineup. But the former Hec Crighton Trophy winner, who ran twice for five yards against Winnipeg and added three catches for 20 yards, was emphatic he will return and resume his CFL career.
“Is this career-threatening? No, not at all, not even close,” he said. “I have to win a lot of Grey Cups before I stop playing.
“Whether it’s rehab or surgery or whatever, I’ll do what I have to but I will be back in the green and gold as soon as I possibly can.”
Lumsden, 26, was injured in the first quarter after taking a solid but rather routine hit from Bombers’ linebacker Siddeeq Shabazz upon hauling in a Ricky Ray pass coming out of the backfield.
“I remember being hit on my left side and it felt different,” Lumsden recollected. “I felt like my shoulder was out completely. When I came over to the sideline I said I thought my shoulder was out and sure enough it was. But I went into shock . . . I think it was more a mental thing than physical. Pain is not an issue, I’ve always been able to play through it but the reality my shoulder was out was very difficult to grasp.”
Lumsden signed with Edmonton as a free agent after four seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The six-foot-two, 228-pound Lumsden has battled injuries throughout his pro career but joined the Eskimos averaging more than six yards a carry throughout his CFL tenure.
Despite suffering a third straight setback with the shoulder, Lumsden said he won’t favour it upon his return.
“There’s nothing else that can be done to this shoulder anymore,” Lumsden said. “I’m not worried about it because by the time it’s all rehabbed up, it will pretty much be the strongest thing on my body.”