Konar played way into mix for starting spot
There are times when a CFL training camp is more like an Italian kitchen and things are getting thrown on the wall to see what sticks.
Sure, you might get the odd meatball, but it’s all worth it when you end up with a strand that remains in place.
Especially when you’ve run out of as many ingredients as a snakebitten 2017 Edmonton Eskimos squad did on the way to the league’s first million-dollar injury salary.
Last year, only one day of training camp passed before injury woes began with the loss of Cory Greenwood to a season-ending knee injury.
The veteran linebacker from Kingston, Ont., was brought in specifically to start at the weak-side linebacker position, which was slated to transition from American to Canadian in the Eskimos’ ratio recipe.
The problem was, the next Canadian linebacker on the depth chart didn’t have a single start under his belt.
That didn’t stop Adam Konar from clinging like cooked spaghetti, turning that sudden opportunity into 12 starts, 63 tackles, a sack, two interceptions and a forced fumble on his way to entering 2018 on top of the depth chart.
“It’s just coming out and keeping on learning and still competing,” said the 6-2, 225-pound University of Calgary product drafted in the third round in 2015. “I still have to go out and earn my job, even if it is technically my job. I still have to go out and make those plays so I can keep the job. So it’s still fighting for it and still the same mindset every single year. It almost makes you have to work harder for it.”
Konar came into camp with a new contract in hand that will keep him in green and gold through the 2019 season.
“I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” the native of Vancouver said. “This was my No. 1 priority so I’m definitely glad it worked out.”
The Eskimos are expecting bigger and better things from Konar, considering his own six-game contribution to Edmonton’s injury total cut into his playing time.
“Obviously, he worked very hard in the off-season to come back from a serious injury to his shoulder and he looks good out there right now,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said.
“I fully expect that he will just continue to get better. He has all the attributes we look for in a player. He’s tough, physical, smart and aggressive. He’s only going to get better with experience.”