Better late than never for Sherritt
Esks’ linebacker hasn’t played since season opener
Things came full circle in what’s been an injury-plagued season for the Edmonton Eskimos on Thursday.
Taking part in a closed practice at Commonwealth Stadium was none other than linebacker J.C. Sherritt, the Eskimos defensive captain who hasn’t played a down since injuring his Achilles in their season-opener back on June 24.
Just don’t expect to see him back in the lineup right away.
“Right now, he’s working his way back to being able to practise and it’s a great thing for us, a great thing for him,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “He’s worked hard all year to get to this point, so we needed to see where he was at and he had to come out to practice today to show us.
It’s been a long time coming, for both the 29-year-old veteran of seven Canadian Football League seasons as well as his teammates. But no matter the timeline on the prognosis of an injury as serious as Sherritt’s, they were keeping his spot open all year on the off chance he’d be able to fill it again.
“It’s great, he’s one of the main leaders on our football team, he’s right next to me in stretch lines and for six months that spot’s been empty,” said Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly. “Usually a guy goes down and the guys move up one and they fill that spot, but there’s a ton of respect for that man on this football team and they left that spot available for him in case he was going to be ready to come back.
“So he filled that spot today, it was a little weird to have somebody on my right side, but it was great to have him back on the field. He brings just a ton of stuff to our team, he’s been a great support system for our coaching staff helping the younger guys and just having him on the field was awesome.”