The tough decisions out of training camp have been made, and for the 2018 Edmonton Eskimos, it’s now about preparation for the regular season opener this Thursday in Winnipeg.
The team practiced indoors on Sunday afternoon for their first prep-day of the regular season. On Saturday, the Eskimos announced their roster cuts and the biggest name out of the 20 players released is defensive back Brandyn Thompson, who was recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon sustained on October 28 in a home game against the Calgary Stampeders.
Thompson was rehabbing the injury during training camp, but general manager Brock Sunderland said his health was too much of an unknown.
“It was the injury,” Sunderland said. “He’s going to be out for a lot longer than anticipated so it’s a numbers game. You can only keep so many players around and I had a very candid conversation with Brandyn. I was with him in Ottawa and with him here, and when I talk about having hard discussions with people that you care about, both as football players but more so as people, that’s one of them.”
Listen below: Eskimos G.M. Brock Sunderland on the difficult task of setting the opening week roster and the release of Brandyn Thompson
Thompson played 19 games for the Eskimos in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He recorded 45 defensive tackles, one interception, and one fumble return for a touchdown. He added three defensive tackles in two playoff games.
Head coach Jason Maas says Thompson is an example of when tough decisions have to made.
“He’s contributed to a lot of wins for the Edmonton Eskimos and it’s sorry to see a guy like him go,” Maas said. “There are times when you have to move on from people like that and it’s difficult. He wasn’t quite ready so he’ll go home and do what he can, and hopefully in the future, if there’s an opportunity, he’s able to come back. He knows us and we know him.”
Listen below: Head coach Jason Maas on how the first day of regular season prep differs from training camp
Now the focus shifts from training camp and competing against teammates to game planning for an opponent. Defensive tackle Almondo Sewell said the margin for error now becomes much thinner in the regular season.
“Hey, it’s real now, there’s no more dress rehearsals,” Sewell said. “The mistakes, you got to minimize those all the way down to one a game if not one every couple of games. If you want to be great you can’t have any mistakes at all, so it’s a lot more serious now and it’s time to go.”
Roster notes
Defensive back Forrest Hightower returned to practice after missing most of the final week of training. Defensive backs Johnny Adams and Arjen Colquhoun remained out of practice after also missing most of last week. Receiver Bryant Mitchell, who was injured midway through week one of training camp, remained on the sidelines along with fellow receiver Juron Criner.
The Eskimos open up the CFL’s regular season on Thursday night on the road against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Kick-off from Investors Group Field in Winnipeg is 6:30 p.m, and live coverage on 630 CHED will begin with Countdown to Kick-off at 5 p.m.
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