It’s a short week for the Edmonton Eskimos who held their one and only full practice of the week on Tuesday. They will host the Toronto Argonauts on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday night.
The Eskimos are coming off a 20-10 loss on Saturday to the Alouettes in extreme heat and humidity in Montreal, which made the temperature feel like in the mid-40s. Having to recharge their minds and bodies quickly is a challenge and quarterback Trevor Harris says when you add a long flight back home, it just makes this week more of a grind than usual.
“The travel is something to get used to and then the quick week obviously, with the shorter prep, but you just squeeze in more hours on your own doing the lonely work,” Harris said. “It’s just about us managing to push through when your mind is trying to tell that your body’s tired. Your body is physically capable of pushing through a lot, so today it was about pushing through, practising hard and trying to get everything done that we could.”
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Eskimos in 2019.
Getting back to work quickly this week is probably the tonic that will fuel the Eskimos who struggled for much of the game offensively against the Alouettes. For the second time in three games, the Eskimos not only have lost a game, but have also failed to score a touchdown.
Last Saturday, the Eskimos recorded a season-low 320 yards of offence: 271 passing yards and 49 rushing yards. The Eskimos converted on second down only 33 per cent of the time. The team found themselves in second-and-long situations in close to 50 per cent of their second-down situations. The Eskimos converted just one of 13 second-and-long situations.
Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said better production on first down is needed.
“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot a number of times on first down too many times and same thing has happened on second and short or third and inches, so we have to clean some things up.”
Listen below: Eskimos fullback Calvin McCarty discusses the loss to the Alouettes and the process of moving forward in a short week.
Receiver DaVaris Daniels and defensive back Forrest Hightower both missed practice on Tuesday. Both were injured in the loss to the Alouettes.
Kickoff on Thursday against the Argos will be at 7:30 p.m. on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. 630 CHED will have Countdown to Kickoff starting at 6 p.m.
The Eskimos made a roster move on Tuesday by releasing Canadian offensive lineman J’Michael Deane who suited in the game against the Alouettes last week.
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