Quarterback Darian Durant drops back to pass during practice.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday when they returned to practice as quarterback Darian Durant was back after leaving Sunday's 52-0 win over Winnipeg with a neck injury.

After the game, Durant was pretty sore and non-committal about what his status would be coming into the week, but he says he's feeling better now, "It's always good when you don't have contact for a couple of days, so right now so far, so good, and hopefully it continues."

Durant couldn't give any specifics about the injury, but says it felt like a strained neck and he was sore for a couple of days after taking a hit while scrambling on the opening drive of the third quarter.

"It was pretty stiff, couldn't really turn around or do any normal things," explained Durant.  "I came in and got a massage, put some heat on it and did the right things to make sure it got loosened up enough to function properly."

Head coach Corey Chamblin was relieved to see his starting quarterback out for the first day of practice, "He's was throwing the ball pretty well, he's moving around pretty good and he was talking trash during warm up, so he's ready to go."

Durant added that he won't be missing Sunday's rematch with the Bombers unless something happens during the week.

There were a few players missing from practice though as the Riders got down to work.  Slotback Weston Dressler missed practiced with what Chamblin called "a contusion on his arm", but says he should be able to play on Sunday.  Halfback Eddie Russ was also absent, but that was due to illness, "We have a little bug going around, so we wanted to make sure he missed a day or two so that it didn't spread throughout the locker room," explained Chamblin.

The Riders will be back on the practice field on Thursday as they get ready to make the trip to Winnipeg this weekend for the Banjo Bowl.

The team made a trade on Wednesday morning, click here to find out more.