“Why is Reilly still in?”
If you are an Eskimos fan, you likely said those words at some point late Monday afternoon as the Eskimos were losing their third straight game of the season and dropping their sixth straight Labour Day clash in Calgary to the Stampeders.
The Eskimos were down 36-6 and quarterback Mike Reilly — who had struggled the last few games, had not produced a touchdown drive and had been intercepted twice — was still in the game going into the fourth quarter.
A week earlier, he was pulled in favour of James Franklin. That wasn’t happening this time and it wasn’t even discussed on the sidelines, head coach Jason Maas said Tuesday night on the Eskimos Coach’s Show on 630 CHED.
“There was no question in my mind he was going to finish the game. I wanted him to finish the game and get it out of his system.”
Maas got exactly what he wanted in the fourth quarter of what turned out to be a 39-18 loss to the Stampeders.
The Eskimos offence created 169 yards and two touchdowns in the final frame as Reilly went 12 for 17 for 125 yards passing and ran the ball once for 22 yards, his longest run of the season.
“In the fourth quarter, he was fantastic. He seemed to get out of his little funk.
“He was throwing the ball with conviction, he was reading things properly, his footwork was good. I think that’s hopefully the turning point for him mentally and physically,” said Maas, who is looking forward to seeing Reilly’s progress on Saturday in the rematch, after what he called the two lowest graded games for his quarterback in the last two seasons.
“I’m excited about Mike. I think he turned the corner in that fourth quarter. Those positive vibes and positive points and the good quarter we played on offence will translate to a better start and finish in the next game.”
Reilly, who started his 70th CFL game on Labour Day, has a very similar temperament as Maas did when he played: emotional, fiery and will do whatever he has to to win. Maas says he has talked to Reilly about not letting losses affect him as much.
“It’s tough on a quarterback mentally when you don’t play up to your abilities and you feel like you are one of the reasons your team loses.
“That’s hard to get over and Mike and I have talked about it and he needs to get over that. No one person wins or loses games. He is our leader for a reason. He takes those losses very hard, particularly when he doesn’t play up to his abilities.”
We won’t know until post-game on Saturday after the Labour Day rematch, but any success the Eskimos have on offence could be traced back to what happened in the fourth quarter on Monday.
“He needed those reps,” Maas said. “He needed some success.”
The Eskimos will host the Calgary Stampeders Saturday night on the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Coverage on 630 CHED will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the Countdown to Kickoff.
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