The Edmonton Eskimos continued the process of kicking off the rust from their recent bye week on Sunday as they took to The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Eskimos will visit the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night.
Through the first five games, the Eskimos have a 3-2 record and are in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Division and four points back of first place, currently held by the 5-0 Calgary Stampeders. What the Eskimos haven’t achieved yet this season is a winning streak, and the Stampeders are putting the pressure on the rest of the West to keep pace.
Head coach Jason Maas says that’s life in the Western Division.
“I think when you’re in the West you just deal with it,” Maas said. “It’s a week-to-week battle and you just focus on the task at hand, which is the next one and that’s it. Our focus right now is on beating Montreal and wherever that puts us in the standings it puts us.”
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“We know it’s going to take a lot of victories to win the West,” he added, “and that’s our ultimate goal for the regular season. But we’re focused on beating Montreal this week and being better as a football team.”
Listen Below: Eskimos head coach Jason Maas on his team looking to put together their first winning streak of the season
Eskimos receiver Kenny Stafford, who is ninth in the CFL in receiving yards at 320, says teams in the West need likely 10 to 12 wins just to clinch a playoff spot let alone clinch a home playoff game. Stafford says it’s not easy to do, but winning is always the main goal and good teams know how to ignore the standings.
“You can’t put too much pressure on it, you just got to go out and play football,” Stafford said. “When you get lost in playoffs then you lose track of the little things and the little things is what keeps you winning.”
After leaving the Eskimos’ last game against the Toronto Argonauts nine days ago, linebackers J.C. Sherrit and Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga practiced on Sunday, and running back C.J. Gable was a partial participant. Defensive backs Arjen Colquhoun and Mercy Maston practiced today, both of whom have one game left on their six-game injured list. Colquhoun has been out since the last week of training camp, while Maston hasn’t played since Labour Day of last season because of a ruptured Achilles.
Kick-off on Thursday night from Molson Stadium in Montreal is 5:30pm, 630 CHED will have live coverage starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 4pm.
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