Eskimos kicker Whyte back on field after three-month absence
At times this season, the Edmonton Eskimos have looked like a one-legged man in an ... well, let’s just call it a kicking contest.
But that could all change with the return of last year’s most accurate field goal kicker, Sean Whyte, who practised for the first time since suffering a leg injury in a Week 6 win over the B.C. Lions July 28.
You remember that one, when Whyte was forced from the game shortly before his replacement, Eskimos long-snapper and emergency kicker Ryan King took over booting duties, only to suffer a season-ending knee injury?
“It was supposed to be a sixweek injury, but that’s the way injuries go, I guess. I’d never been hurt before in my whole career, it’s been a real long year for me,” said Whyte, the nine-year CFL veteran who joined a long list of injured Eskimos this season. “Every single person that got injured after me was pretty much my fault: I got hurt, Ryan kicks the ball off after me, he gets hurt, and then the next week, my buddy Korey Jones is like, ‘You know if you didn’t get hurt, I’d be OK. We missed the field goal, I ran down to cover and blew my toe out.’
“I’m like, ‘Man, it’s all my fault.’” All kidding aside, Whyte certainly hasn’t been the easiest to replace, with punter Hugh O’Neill trying his hand, or foot, at fieldgoal kicking before kicker-turned-scout Chris Milo was brought in briefly, only to be replaced by Swayze Waters, an American.
Together with Whyte’s first five games, which saw him hit 13 of 14 attempts, the crew is second-last in the league with an accuracy of 78.3 per cent.
But maybe it is Whyte’s fault, after all, for making it look too easy?
“I don’t know, ever since I’ve been in Edmonton I’ve been successful,” Whyte said. “It’s the team around me, it’s the coaches around me and I just feel really comfortable. I love kicking in this stadium and it’s just everything combined.
“This is where I feel the most comfortable and I love playing for these guys. I don’t want to play anywhere else.”
And while he’s here, you can bet he’d much rather be playing.
“It was great to see him,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said. “I think he’s basically 100 per cent now, so he’s coming off of the six
game and is able to practise this week, so we get to see him out in practice and kicking.”
BIG 10
With a 10-6 record, the Eskimos will finish with more wins than losses for the fourth year in a row, while still having two games left for a chance to improve upon last year’s 10-win total.
“It’s great to have a winning season,” Maas said.
“To have a winning record in this league is a big deal, it’s always a good season when you can do that.
“Reaching the playoffs is your first goal, having a winning season is probably your second one, and then seeding yourself in the playoffs as best you can and then reaching the Grey Cup and winning one is the ultimate goal.” Check.
Check.
And, to be determined, as the Eskimos sit third in the West Division, one win behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a home playoff game and one win up on the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who sit in the crossover spot.
“Right now, we’re playing football,” Maas said. “And looking forward to keeping that going.”
In and out: RB C.J. Gable was back practising after sitting out Saturday’s game for precautionary reasons, a game which saw the Eskimos backfield decimated with injuries to LaDarius Perkins, Pascal Lochard and Alexandre Dupuis ... S Neil King is back in action after sitting out the last two weeks ... KR Chris Edwards was practising after sitting out last week ... RB Kendial Lawrence is scheduled to come off the six-game injured list in time for Saturday’s game against Calgary ... American RBs Marion Grice and Shaun Wick have been signed to the Eskimos practice roster, along with Canadian LB Nehemie Kankolongo, a five-foot-11, 205-pound Wyoming product out of Coquitlam, B.C . ... LT Joel Figueroa remains absent after sitting out last week with a knee injury.