EDMONTON – Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly went through a normal day of practice Wednesday and showed no signs of any residual concussion symptoms following the nasty head shot he took from Toronto Argonaut defensive lineman Cleyon Laing last Saturday.
Reilly was knocked out of the game and the team said on Sunday he had suffered a concussion. He missed practice Tuesday but was back taking most of the reps on Wednesday.
“Today was pretty much full-go for me.” the six-foot-three, 215-pound first-year Eskimo said afterwards. “Because it’s non-contact every day for us (quarterbacks) nothing changed for me than it would on a normal Day 2. (Thursday) we will probably be a little more rigorous than a normal Day 3 for me. We’ll come out, have a normal practice and then do some strenuous cardio stuff and just push everything a little harder than normal.
“As long as everything continues to go as expected I’m hopeful that I’ll be cleared to play. They’re only a few days but those are long days, there’s still lots to do.”
Reilly remained in the game for one play after the hit — throwing a touchdown pass — but was pulled after feeling dizziness and confusion on the sidelines. He said Wednesday he’s felt no adverse symptoms since waking up on Sunday.
“My schedule, my routine hasn’t changed. The first night after the game even went pretty smoothly. Neck was a little sore that night but gone by the next morning. Since then there’s been nothing to deal with. Meals have been going good, sleeping is going well, meetings and picking up the ready list and being prepared has all gone well.”
He admitted, however, that concussions affect people differently and he’s not out of the woods yet.
“This is a learning experience and realizing what guys go through when they get injured,” he said. “It’s not fun to be on this side of it but I’m just thankful that things have gone well so far and hopefully they will continue to be that way.
“It was disappointing not being able to practice yesterday. That was the first practice I’ve ever missed, college, high school, professional or anything.”
Reilly, in his fourth CFL season, has taken a tremendous amount of punishment this season but said it was ironic that he took the most dangerous hit when he was doing what people have been saying he should do to protect himself.
“Everybody’s talked all season about how I need to change my style of play because I’m going to get hurt and the play I get hurt on I’m actually in the pocket and I’m not out there running around trying to lower my head.”
He watched a replay of the hit early this week and said it was a “scary hit” but felt there was nothing he could have done differently to avoid it.
“I just feel fortunate that there hasn’t been any bad long-term symptoms to this point. But I’m also not naive. I understand things can still creep up and until I’m cleared to play I’m not going to breathe too easily.”
Head coach Kavis Reed said while Reilly looked fine Wednesday and was sharp with his passes, the team will monitor him closely the rest of the week.
“We still have 72 hours we can work with,” he said. “There are still some hurdles he has to cross but right now we’re hopeful he’ll be cleared to play.”
The 3-10 Eskimos play the 5-8 Montreal Alouettes Saturday in a game they have to win to retain any realistic playoff hopes.
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