A familiar face returns to shore up linebackers
Seeing as how the Edmonton Eskimos were down two veteran linebackers before Week 1 was even in the books, it looks a little like the unit is snake-bitten this year.
First, it was Cory Greenwood going down two days into training camp with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee before J.C. Sherritt came up lame in Saturday’s season opener against the B.C. Lions after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
Both are done for at least the season.
“There is no question J.C. will be missed,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said of the defensive captain who was in his seventh Canadian Football League season. “As a coach, you love that kind of guy who can control a room, call the meetings and run meetings.
“You don’t replace that. You hope someone steps up and can emulate that, but that’s what you miss, right off the bat.”
On the field, however, the need is more pressing.
While Adam Konar filled in nicely for Greenwood on Saturday, earning a game high seven tackles and his first career CFL sack in his first start, the Eskimos had to look outside their ranks to help fill some of the void left behind by Sherritt.
But not too far, bringing offseason release Alex Hoffman-Ellis back into the mix. The 6-foot, 230-pound Washington State product played five games with Edmonton being acquired last season in a trade with Hamilton for a conditional 2018 draft pick.
“It’s kind of like I never left. This is such a great locker-room to come back to,” said Hoffman-Ellis, who previously played for Eskimos defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides in B.C.
“It’s just like brushing a little dust off a shelf you haven’t used in a while.”
Hoffman-Ellis’s U.S. passport didn’t need any such treatment, after spending two-and-a-half months mountain climbing, spear fishing and everything in between in Tonga, The Cook Islands and New Zealand. He returned to take up jewelry making, work on becoming a published poet and brush up on math in preparation for a return to university to study biology.
What he didn’t count on was coming back to a phone call from new Eskimos general manager Brock Sunderland.
“It caught me by surprise when I was released, but I’m taking nothing for granted now that I’m back here,” Hoffman-Ellis said. “I wanted to be back, but it’s bittersweet when it comes at a friend and teammate’s expense.”
He’s been in this position before, filling in when Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian ruptured his Achilles in 2015 and finishing third on the team in tackles.
Despite the track record of linebackers making their way to the trainer’s table in Edmonton so far this season, Hoffman-Ellis said he’s focusing on how he can contribute instead of simply his health.
“It’s tough and it’s adversity to deal with. I didn’t really know Cory, but losing a guy like J.C., who has been a leader on this team and an all-star and a guy who performed for this franchise, it’s a tough blow. You can’t replace that leadership. You’re just looking as much as you can to replace production. So next man up.”
Right now, the next man on the depth chart is Korey Jones, who made six tackles in relief of Sherritt against the Lions.
“There’s a reason Korey’s on our roster, he has a veteran presence, and the moment isn’t too big for Korey,” Maas said. “It’s just a matter of getting in there and feeling comfortable, and I think he did that right away.”
Jones and Hoffman-Ellis crossed paths during Lions training camp in 2013.
“Sometimes, it’s unexpected, a sudden change, whether it be a turnover or injury on the field, we kind of condition for that as football players,” Jones said. “In the moment, it’s next man up, so you try not to get emotional about it or think too much.
“You step in, you’re expected to do a job, you’re responsible to do a job, and that’s kind of it.”