Wide receiver Kamar Jorden was expected to fully return to action for the Calgary Stampeders in training camp this May before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the season.

Jorden is returning from a serious knee injury that cut short his breakout 2018 campaign. The 30-year-old returned for one game last year in the playoffs, recording two receptions for 15 yards in Calgary’s Western semifinal loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but should make his full-time return to the lineup this season.

Jorden said he thinks he can pick up where he left off if and when the CFL season resumes.

“I feel good, first and foremost,” Jorden told TSN’s Jermain Franklin. “My knee feels strong. I’m able to move around and do all the things I was used to doing back in 2018 before I got hurt. I was coming in expecting to get back and get the ball rolling again.

“It’s definitely a new year for us. We have a little bit of a different coaching staff, a lot of younger guys who are expecting to make a bigger impact. So, it would have been a different room. But my plan was to come in, lead by example, be a little bit better with the playbook, and be able to just go out there and play fast.”

Jorden had 55 receptions for 944 yards and six touchdowns through 10 games in 2018 before suffering a devastating knee injury in the Stamps’ Labour Day Classic matchup against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Jorden tore three ligaments in his knee while blocking on a Stampeders’ run play. The injury cost him the second half of the 2018 season and all of the 2019 regular season. He said it was a tough process to get to where he is now.

“It was definitely a long journey. When I first got to the hospital, I was more worried if I could even play again,” he said. “Once the doctor assured me what they planned to do with my knee to get me to play again – he told me everything will go well based on the work I put in – that’s all I needed to hear. Just hearing that I’ll be able to play again, to run on it, basically it was just full steam ahead from there.

“It was definitely a long process and just to be where I’m at right now, to be able to run and plant and jump. I just think about the time I was on those crutches, struggling to get in the shower or get up to pick up the TV remote, things like that. It definitely was a lot of work, a long process. I’m just happy to be here and just continue to keep working.”

While everything is currently in a holding pattern because of the Coronavirus pandemic, Jorden said he’s been keeping busy preparing for when he can play football again.

“This is a crazy time, but for the most part, I’m still just working out every day; just trying to get different workouts in. I’m out here in Michigan with my trainer, pretty much just still focusing on working out, trying to go to the field as much as I can.”