Eskimos getting creative in managing injuries
WINNIPEG With all the moving parts on an injury-depleted Edmonton Eskimos depth chart, it’s a wonder the club can survive the Canadian Football League’s ratio requirements in any given game let alone lead the pack with a 7-0 record.
With 18 starters or their replacements on the injured list for Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6:30 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED), the Eskimos are looking to start off the 2017 season the same way they closed out their 2015 Grey Cup run with eight regular-season victories.
But it’s been easier said than done with an ever-changing depth chart that has yet to look the same in consecutive games this season.
“Yeah, it’s been difficult, we’ve had to come up with creative packages on both sides of the ball on a week-to-week basis, the last few weeks in particular,” said head coach Jason Maas, who is looking for his team’s 13th win in 14 games since starting out the 2016 season 5-7 as a rookie head coach.
This week, it’s Canadian rookie Kwaku Boateng making his first official start at defensive end.
The thing is, the fifth-round selection (41st overall) in May’s draft is hardly some fresh face coming in off the bench. The six-foot, 250-pound Wilfrid Laurier product has earned eight tackles and two sacks while working in a defensive line rotation that’s been in place since the beginning of the season.
Now, with Marcus Howard on the six-game injured list, he will be getting the lion’s share of reps Thursday, as Da’Quan Bowers will while making his first start with an injury to Almondo Sewell.
“… It’s going to be different playing a game without both Mondo and Marcus in there, but I’m ready to step up,” Boateng said. “It’s going to be a chance for all of us to show how cohesive our D-line is and it doesn’t really matter who you put up there, we’re going to prevail.”
It’s been the motto of the team ever since kicking off training camp with an injury to starting WIL linebacker Cory Greenwood just two days in, snowballing what’s become an absolute avalanche of injuries.
In and out: LG Danny Groulx (back) and C Justin Sorensen (knee) return to the offensive line after sitting out last week, while DE Rykeem Yates and DT Mike Moore draw in on a defensive line that has lost DE Marcus Howard (sixgame IL) and DT Almondo Sewell (one-game IL). WR Nate Behar (one-game IL) and OL D’Anthony Batiste (practice squad) also leave the active 46-man roster.