Comfort and confidence returning as Mardner continues long-road back

It’ll be hard for Nick Mardner to ever forget the moment that wiped out his 2025 football season.

During a training-camp scrimmage a year ago, the 6-foot-6 Ottawa REDBLACKS receiver caught a pass and turned up the field. He felt the defenders punching at the ball, with a player bumping him. Mardner fell to the turf with his knee folding underneath his body. The second overall pick in the 2024 CFL Draft, Mardner felt the knee pop and let out a scream.

Mardner, who had been feeling some tendonitis in his knee at the time, explained: “When you feel your kneecap up by your upper thigh, you assume that it’s pretty bad. There was a bit of pain. But, for the most part, once everything cooled down, it was much less painful. The worst part was after the surgery, when it was locked up, and I couldn’t move it for a few months.”

Fast forward to 2026, and Mardner, whose start to training camp was delayed a couple of days, has worked his way back onto the field. While he was in the lineup much of 2024 before the injury, the depth chart looks a lot different two years later. There’s a lot of talent in the receiving corps, including Justin Hardy, Eugene Lewis, Kalil Pimpleton, Ayden Eberhardt and Keelan White (Ottawa’s first-round pick in 2025).

And, that’s all good with Mardner, who will sit out his team’s first pre-season game Friday night in Montreal. But he says he’s ready to go.

“It’s great competition,” said Mardner. “It makes me better. I don’t want anything handed to me; I’ve always been like that. There’s a ton of talent out here, and I’m just honestly blessed to be able to put my helmet on every morning, go out there with the guys, run routes and do what I need to do.

“I’m making sure that I’m doing everything right, so when (coach Ryan Dinwiddie) calls my number, I’m going to seamlessly do what I need to do. We can transition from packages that we start the season with, to where I can get more involved. But that all starts with me; I have to do my part and be accountable.”

To get to this point, where he can compete for a job, was challenging. But it gave Mardner time to work on himself – physically and mentally. He read a lot (John Grisham and “business, money-making” books). A key to his recovery, he said, was not feeling sorry for himself and pushing ahead.

“It was a long year of rehab,” he said. “It’s football; you have to expect the worst sometimes. If it’s not your knee, it could be your arm, your shoulder. There are many things that could go wrong. It’s not really a why-me thing. You roll with the punches and keep moving on, but it gives you some time to focus on things that you didn’t focus on before, find other things that might bring you joy. I was stimulating my mind.”

And how does he feel at this point in training camp?

“The amount of work that I put in this off-season with strengthening, getting mobile and doing all the things I needed to do, it gives me the confidence to go out there and trust that if I’m going to run a 15-yard comeback on the left leg and have to jump out of it, I know it’s going to be there,” he said. “I know I have the muscles built up to support that.”

Asked about Mardner, Dinwiddie said: “Nick’s got a big body frame that we like. Obviously, (Lewis) has the boundary locked up, but we can flip the formation and put (Mardner) there as well, so he’s not always just going to be a field guy. Once we get into the season, we’ll probably find ways to move him around.”

The pre-season game against the Alouettes will be an opportunity for the REDBLACKS, who will rest many of their veterans, to get a good look at a large group of players fighting for roster spots. Among those sitting: QB Dru Brown, linebackers A.J. Allen, C.J. Reavis and Nyles Morgan, receivers Hardy, Eberhardt and Pimpleton, running back Greg Bell, offensive linemen Drew Desjarlais and Zack Pelehos, defensive back Alonzo Addae and defensive linemen Cleyon Laing, Mike Wakefield, Bryce Carter and Habakkuk Baldonado.

“We do treat it like a game; we’re going there to win, but we’re also going to evaluate,” said Dinwiddie. “I want some of these younger guys to separate themselves from the group. We’re not going to be too cute as far as our game plan goes; just keep it pretty simple for the young guys to see how they operate when the lights are on.”

One of the players expected to get playing time Friday is Emeric Boutin. The REDBLACKS were happy to grab the bruising fullback out of Laval with their second-round pick (13th overall) in the CFL Draft.

“It’s a dream come true to be here, it’s been amazing,” said Boutin. “(I’ve had to adjust to) the speed and the physicality of the game. There’s also the mental part; I also need to work really hard off the field to get ready.”

Asked about playing Friday, he said: “I’m excited. A game like this is an opportunity for me to show my physicality; it’s cool that it’s against Montreal.

“There’s always excitement when you get to play against another team. But we’re still in training camp. And training camp is for us to focus on the small details so we can progress as a team. It’s the first part of the process.”

Asked about the jitters that may come with being a rookie and trying to impress, he said: “It’s hard to forget about the pressure with everything going on around me. But I only need to focus on what I can control. And what I can control is how I perform.”

Jake Maier, Max Duggan and Bryson Barnes will share the quarterbacking workload vs. the Alouettes.

It’s been an interesting week of practice. On Tuesday, the head coach paused practice a couple of times when he wasn’t getting what he expected out of his players. He wants to see the intensity being ratcheted up as the clock ticks toward the season-opener, June 6 at home vs. Edmonton.

“We talked about our four E’s: Effort, execution, energy and enthusiasm,” said Dinwiddie. “And, I didn’t think we had any of those. That’s why we kicked them off the field. Sometimes I want to save their legs. It’s a good chance to send a message to the team, too.”