The Edmonton Eskimos are looking to turn the page after a tough loss last week at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The team practised Tuesday for the first time following the 38-21 loss last Friday in the home opener.
The Eskimos struggled to move the football at times and the defence had a hard time stopping the Tiger-Cats’ offence.
Linebacker J.C. Sherritt says losing the way they did is hard to take but it’s important to see the game in the right context.
“It’s happened every year I’ve been up here even on the 14-4 team (in 2015),” Sherritt said.
“You just got to bounce back and learn from it and we know we will. We know how tight our locker room is and what our coaches do for us. We’re just excited to get back out there.”
There has been a lot of focus on the defensive side of the ball after giving up 38 points and over 500 yards of offence.
The Eskimos currently have five regular starters on defence on their six-game injured list (Adams, Hightower, Colquhoun, Konar, and Moore) which means the team is boasting a young lineup. Sherritt says the defence needs to grow up fast.
Get daily news
“They have to and at the end of the year, there’s no doubt in my mind this is going to be the best thing for them,” Sherritt said.
“I can remember like it was yesterday when I got thrown in the fire and having vets tell me the right and wrong way to do things, how to adjust, how to get better on the fly.
“They’ll be just fine and that’s part of our job as veterans is to help them get there.”
The good news is there doesn’t appear to be any injuries from last Friday’s loss that will affect the team heading into this Friday’s home game against the B.C. Lions.
Head coach Jason Maas says he’s pleased for once he doesn’t have to set up a 44-man roster based on injuries.
“It’s been awhile and it’s nice to look at your roster right now and know that if we wanted to lineup like we did last week, I think we could,” Maas said.
“That hasn’t been the M-O here for quite some time now so it is nice to finally be able to look at it and decide on other factors rather than just saying it’s an injury and we need to replace him.
“You can start with more evaluation of people rather than just hoping somebody is ready to stand up and play.”
Receiver Bryant Mitchell was back on the field as a partial-participant on Tuesday; he hasn’t practised since the first week of training camp.
The Eskimos signed veteran receiver Samuel Giguere on Tuesday, who took part in his first practice with his new team.
Listen Below: New Eskimos receiver Sam Giguere discusses his first day as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos
The Eskimos also have signed international defensive tackle Tashon Smallwood, who played for seasons at Arizona State.
The Eskimos host the B.C. Lions on Friday night.
Kick-off on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium is 8 p.m., live coverage on 630 CHED will begin with Countdown to Kick-off at 6 p.m.