DEREK VAN DIEST Eskimos well rested for Redblacks

If the Edmonton Eskimos had the option of declining their bye week after an impressive victory against the Calgary Stampeders, they may have considered it.

But a week of rest is rarely a bad thing in the CFL, even if it comes on the heels of arguably their best performance of the season.

“I take the bye weeks as they are,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “I think the guys understand it’s a long season, you have to enjoy your bye week regardless of what’s happened before that. Thankfully, we’ve gone into our byes with two wins. You just don’t let it affect you and just know that coming back to work, every week is different and our job is to come back focused and ready to play.”

The Eskimos return from the week off to face the Ottawa Redblacks, on the road, Saturday(2p.m.) at TD Bank Stadium. Both teams head into the contest with 7-5 records. The Redblacks are first in the East Division, while the Eskimos are second in the West behind the 10-2 Stampeders.

Edmonton beat Calgary 48-42 in the Labour Day rematch to go into the bye week in good spirits. They hope to come out of it with their timing intact and not have to work their way up to game speed.

“I don’t know if anyone looks forward to a bye week other than the physical rest that you get,” said Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly.

“We’d all like to be on the field playing, but it also allows guys to get healthy, and you also have a longer week when you get back, too, so we have an extra day of practice than we normally would, so I think that’s got the guys back up to game speed. You can’t afford to let something like that slow you down early in the game, because the other team is going to be ready to go, so you have to be able to match or exceed that.”