For the first time this season, the Edmonton Eskimos experienced a week of preparation following a loss.
The Eskimos host the Saskatchewan Roughriders Friday night on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium and are looking to get back to their winning ways.
Last week, the Eskimos fell 33-26 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to fall to 7-1 on the season. Head coach Jason Maas feels his team has responded well in the lead-up to Friday night’s game.
“I think they responded extremely well coming off the field (last week in Winnipeg) going into our locker room and no one is hanging their head,” Maas said. “Everyone understands we fought and battled for 60 minutes and came out of the short end of it. They were all excited to come back to work; they worked extremely hard this week.”
Quarterback Mike Reilly continued his outstanding season last week despite the loss. Reilly passed for 356 yards, his fifth-straight game throwing for 300 yards. Reilly could reach 3,000 passing yards on the season Friday night; he would become only the fourth quarterback in CFL history to surpass 3,000 passing yards at the midway point of the season. Reilly is on pace for 6,041 passing yards for the season, which would set a new Eskimos record.
LISTEN: Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly ahead of Friday night’s game against the Roughriders
The injury bug struck the Eskimos again this week as four more players have been added to the six-game injured list in defensive back Brandyn Thompson, linebacker Korey Jones, defensive tackle Euclid Cummings and defensive back Andrew Lue. Receiver Vidal Hazelton is on the one-game injured list. Offensive lineman J.S Roy is out for the season with a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).
Coming back from injury are receiver Brandon Zylstra, defensive tackle Almondo Sewell, and defensive backs Arjen Colquhoun and Garry Peters. Defensive back Forrest Hightower will make his Eskimos debut after being out since the first week of training camp because of injury.
Other changes see Mike Moore added to the roster to start on the defensive line. Receiver Jamill Smith will handle kick return duties. Defensive back Chris Rwabukamba, receiver Nate Behar, and defensive tackle Kalonji Kashama have been added to the active roster.
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Coming out are receiver Chris Getzlaf, as well as defensive backs Mercy Maston and Jordan Hoover, who have been moved to the practice roster. Defensive end Rykeem Yates was released earlier this week.
Last but not least, Friday’s game will mark the Eskimos debut of veteran defensive end John Chick, who was acquired in a trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday.
In the last five seasons, Chick has recorded 59 quarterback sacks, including a career-high of 15 in 2014 with the Riders. Chick registered 16 sacks in almost a season-and-a-half with Tiger-Cats; he has 16 defensive tackles this season.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Mike Reilly
Running back: LaDarius Perkins
Offensive line: Joel Figeuroa-Danny Groulx-Justin Sorensen-Matt O’Donnell-Colin Kelly
Receivers: Bryant Mitchell-Brandon Zylstra-Cory Watson-Duke Williams-Shamawd Chambers
Defence
Defensive line: John Chick-Almondo Sewell-Mike Moore-Odell Willis
Linebackers: Terrance Bullitt-Alex Hoffman-Ellis-Kenny Ladler
Defensive backs: Johnny Adams-Garry Peters-Josh Woodman-Forrest Hightower-Arjen Colquhoun
The Riders are coming off their bye week and have alternated wins and losses in their last five games; they improved to 3-4 on the season back on Aug. 13 with a 41-8 win over the B.C. Lions. In that game, defensive back Ed Gainey recorded four interceptions including a 49-yard return for a touchdown. Gainey became the first player in 31 years to record four interceptions in a game and is the ninth player in CFL history to do so. The record is five interceptions, held by former Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Rod Hill, who set the record back in the 1990 season.
The Eskimos have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Riders.
630 CHED will have live coverage of Friday’s game starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 6 p.m. The opening kick-off between the Eskimos and Riders will be at 7:30 p.m. on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
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