On Monday the Edmonton Eskimos acquired running back C.J. Gable from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On Thursday Gable practiced with his new team for the first time as the Eskimos will look to end a six-game losing streak on Thanksgiving Day when they visit the Montreal Alouettes.
Gable spent five seasons with the Tiger-Cats recording a career 6.3. yard rushing average, over 2,300 rushing yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. This season Gable played nine games for the Tiger-Cats recording 466 yards, a 5.8. rushing average, and scoring five touchdowns.
Gable said he was surprised to be traded on Monday.
“It was a shock to me, I’ve been there five years and a lot of players don’t stay on a team that long so I had fun while I was there,” Gable said. “It’s great to come here and I’m going to help them keep going and get these wins.
“They have the tools and everything to go to the Grey Cup and win the whole thing. They brought me here and I’m going to do my part to get them there.”
Head coach Jason Maas said he wants the offence to become more balanced and Gable should help in that area.
“First seven games of the year we have three different guys go over 100 yards and in the last six games we’ve been behind in games where we haven’t established our runner or establish our run,” Maas said. “It’s obviously at the forefront of our thoughts is to be able to be balanced on our offence, he said. “We feel we are at our best when defenses don’t know what personnel is in whether we are going to run or throw it. Obviously having a guy that’s able to stay in the lineup is big.”
LISTEN: Head coach Jason Maas talks about the expected impact of C.J. Gable
The Eskimos lost Travon Van to a lower-body injury last Saturday in the 28-19 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and his status isn’t know yet. In the second game of the season, the team lost John White against the Alouettes at home on June 30. The Eskimos have also used rookie LaDarius Perkins.
White, Van and Perkins all have 100 yard rushing games under their belt this season. However the Eskimos haven’t had a running back go over the 60 yard mark since Aug. 4 at home to Hamilton when Perkins rushed for 105 yards.
Gable is coming off a performance where he recorded 157 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns against the Toronto Argonauts last week.
Offence searching for more consistency
In the first half of the Eskimos loss last Saturday to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the team was held to no points and recorded 87 yards of offence.
In the second half the offence recorded 331 yards of offence and scored 19 points in a losing cause. Quarterback Mike Reilly threw a pick-6 to Bombers defensive back Chris Randle which sealed the Eskimos sixth straight loss.
The second half peformance is what Jason Maas is looking for from his offence. Offensive coordinator Carson Walch says the offence needs to play with better consistency.
“To us it’s winning football games so if we have to do more to win football games we definetely have to that,” Walch said. “I take responsibility, the coaches take responsibility, Mike Reilly takes responsibility. We need to score more points in my opinion. Are we productive? Sure we’re productive but the stat that matters is winning and losing football games.”
Linebacker Korey Jones and defensive back Brandyn Thompson both practiced with the team for the first time since suffering injuries back on Aug. 17 during a game in Winnipeg. Both have one more game left to serve on the six-game injured list.
The Eskimos made some roster moves Thursday releasing national kicker Brett Lauther and international running back Marion Grice.
The team signed national fullback John Delahunt to their active roster and national defensive back Brendan Morgan. Delahunt played for the Tiger-Cats in 2013 and the Ottawa Redblacks in 2015, he recorded a career 283 receiving yards and two touchdowns along with eight special teams tackles. Morgan is a 2015 second round pick of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Kick-off on Thanksgiving Day from Molson Stadium in Montreal is at noon, 630 CHED will have Countdown to Kick-off at 10:30 a.m.
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