Maas vows to lay down the law on discipline
Eskimos coach vows he’ll even sit star players if penalty problems persist
Kenny Ladler isn’t the only player in the history of the Battle of Alberta to throw his helmet, Chris Edwards isn’t the first to motion a throat slash and Jason Maas isn’t blazing any head-coaching trails by smashing his headset on the sidelines.
But add them all up and it shines a pretty significant light on not only how penalties contributed to Saturday’s 25-22 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in the Labour Day rematch, but on a problem that’s plagued the Edmonton Eskimos all season long.
“I’ve talked about discipline this entire year,” Maas said Tuesday, as practice began ahead of Saturday’s road game against the Toronto Argonauts (2 p.m., TSN, ESPN3, 630 CHED). “Calgary’s a very disciplined team, they don’t commit a lot of penalties, they don’t commit a lot of turnovers.”
While turnovers were even this time, Edmonton committed twice as many infractions for three times the yardage as the five that went against Calgary for 35 yards. One saw Ladler take off his helmet and hurl it on a third-quarter convert kick that cost Edmonton 10 yards on the ensuing kickoff, resulting in an Eskimos drive that stalled five yards shy of the end zone as they settled for a field goal. Another pushed Calgary 10 yards downfield on the winning touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter after Edwards made a slashing gesture across his throat after a pass fell incomplete. Make it 15 yards with defensive tackle Euclid Cummings jumping offside.
“The two penalties at the end of the game, did they cost us the football game? There are about 20 other plays in that game that I can watch and say that one play doesn’t usually determine the outcome of a football game,” Maas said.
“Did they help us in that matter? No, they did not.”
And neither did Maas’s outburst near the end of the half, which saw him throw two pieces of his headset at the bench after a coach’s challenge for what he thought was pass-interference penalty didn’t go his way.
“I have one challenge flag to use and obviously, you could tell by my displeasure of throwing my headset down that I wasn’t very pleased with what I assumed was an obvious call,” Maas, who went into the Labour Day series with a 72 per cent success rate on challenges, said after Saturday’s game. “I just don’t agree with the call and that’s why you saw what I did. I got a 10-yard penalty for it, it was at the end of the half so did it matter? No.”
Maybe not at that point, but it makes a big difference when you consider players are following the lead of their head coach, who is preaching discipline on the one hand and throwing objects that result in an objectionable conduct penalty with the other.
“Discipline is discipline. They know the difference between right and wrong,” said Maas. “Again, do our players know not to throat slash or do anything objectionable? Yes, they do. Sometimes, your emotions get the best of you.”
As Edwards discovered after getting pressed into action with a season-ending Achilles injury to Mercy Maston in pre-game warmups.
“I just made a play, it was the last drive so I was really into it, but I’ve got to be more disciplined,” said the 24-year-old Idaho product. “I know I can’t be doing throat slashes or any gesture, so I’ve got to be more disciplined because I really feel like I hurt my team. That can’t happen.”
Or else players might find themselves no longer playing.
“Sitting people might be the next step,” Maas said. “As a coach, you don’t want to get to that because you feel like you hurt your football club when it’s really good players that are committing those penalties and you’re having to sit them because of disciplinary reasons.
“But if it has to get to that, then I guess it has to get to that.”
In and out: After being released on Friday, Canadian fullback James Tuck is back with the Eskimos, who also made changes to the practice roster by adding American defensive backs Ahmad Dixon and Devin Smith and releasing defensive lineman Darius Allen and linebacker Jeremiah Kose ... cornerback Johnny Adams (shoulder) was practising after sitting out the Labour Day series ... OL Simeon Rottier, DB Garry Peters, defensive end Odell Willis and LB Kenny Ladler did not practise Tuesday.