The Edmonton Eskimos will be missing their starting quarterback on Friday night.
Trevor Harris, the CFL’s leading passer this season, has been placed on the one-game injured list and will miss Friday’s home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Harris was a partial participant in practice on Wednesday and at one point ran the first-team offence, and at the time head coach Jason Maas said he wanted to see how things went on Thursday before making a decision.
Head coach Jason Maas said Harris simply didn’t look ready to play during practice on Wednesday.
Harris also spoke with the media following practice on Wednesday, when he said he felt fine throwing the football but that the decision over whether he played or not was out of his hands.
READ MORE: Trevor Harris takes part in Edmonton Eskimos practice on Wednesday
This will be Kilgore’s first career start for Edmonton.
Kilgore came in relief of Harris in the Labour Day rematch game, going 21 of 28 for 242 yards passing, throwing one interception and scoring one rushing touchdown.
Kilgore will make his fourth career CFL start and says he’s prepared.
“I feel good. I just want to out and execute the offence,” Kilgore said. “Not try and do too much, just do my job, go though the reads, try to get in and out of the huddle and be efficient.”
Listen below
Eskimos head coach Jason Maas discuses the work Logan Kilgore put in this week in practice.
Harris suffered an upper-body injury in the Eskimos’ last game on Sept. 7 against Calgary.
Harris will become the eighth of nine CFL opening-day starting quarterbacks to miss at least one game because of injury.
The only quarterback to have played in every one of his team’s games so far will be Mike Reilly of the B.C. Lions.
Other changes see offensive lineman Tommie Draheim return to the lineup after missing the last three games because of injury.
Defensive back Forrest Hightower returns after missing the last seven games with an injury.
2019 first round draft pick Mathieu Betts will make his Eskimos debut on special teams and will be a part of the team’s defensive line rotation. Betts was signed on Sept. 9 after a stint with the Chicago Bears.
Defensive back Scott Hutter moves from the practice roster to the active roster.
Defensive back Tyquwan Glass, linebacker Jonathon Walton and offensive lineman Kwabena Asare have all been moved to the practice roster. Defensive end Jesse Joseph has been placed on the six-game injured list.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Logan Kilgore
Running Back: C.J. Gable (Fullback: Calvin McCarty)
Offensive Line: Tommie Draheim-Jacob Ruby-David Beard-Matt O’Donnell-Colin Kelly
Receivers: DaVaris Daniels-Ricky Collins Jr.-Natey Adjei-Greg Ellingson-Tevaun Smith
Defence
Defensive Line: Kwaku Boateng-Almondo Sewell-Mike Moore-Nick Usher
Linebackers: Vontae Diggs-Larry Dean-Don Unamba
Defensive Backs: Anthony Orange-Money Hunter-Jordan Hoover-Forrest Hightower-Josh Johnson
You can hear Friday’s game between the Eskimos and Tiger-Cats on CISN Country 103.9, starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 6:30 p.m. The opening kick off on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium is at 7:30 p.m. with Morley Scott and Dave Campbell calling all of the live action.
Plus hear analysis from former Eskimos offensive lineman and two-time Grey Cup champion Blake Dermott. Brenden Escott will be reporting from the Eskimos sidelines.
— With files from The Canadian Press