Miller, Pierre battle to replace injured Alexander in Eskimos secondary before Saturday’s CFL opener
Injury to starter Alexander creates vacancy for opener
The last thing Shea Pierre expected to be doing this summer was trying to prevent the Edmonton Eskimos’ secondary from being exposed.
Pierre, 24, thought his chance of playing in the Canadian Football League had come and gone when he was drafted in the sixth round by the Toronto Argonauts and then released in training camp last year.
When none of the other teams contacted him, the fivefoot-10, 189-pound cornerback returned to Windsor University for a fifth season with the Lancers and started thinking about possible careers.
Personal trainer? Something in his field of study, sociology? Police officer?
“Everybody in my family said if I ever got a chance in football again, you’d probably make it,” he said. “It came true, so I’m really happy.”
Pierre, who signed as a free agent with the Eskimos this spring, not only made the opening day roster, he might even be in the starting lineup on Saturday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Commonwealth Stadium.
Starting safety Donovan Alexander, a sixth-year CFL veteran in his third season with the Eskimos, suffered “a muscular injury during Friday’s pre-season road game with the B.C. Lions that will not keep him out very long,” according to head coach Kavis Reed.
“Conventional wisdom would say you go with the more seasoned guy, but Shea is making it tough for us,” Reed said about a competition between Pierre and third-year special teams standout Mike Miller at safety.
“... Shea has done a tremendous job in terms of showing his understanding. In B.C., he did an absolutely phenomenal job in that position. He’s a very athletic individual, he’s very conscientious about knowing his assignments, he’s done a tremendous job of quickly assimilating to that position.”
Reed acknowledged that having a rookie or an inexperienced defensive player step in to make his first start at safety “is a critical concern” because the position is basically the quarterback of the defence, with all the calls and checks that have to be made.
“But we’re very confident that the guys who we’re auditioning back there are capable of making the checks and are talented enough to get us through a couple of weeks, if necessary,” Reed said. “We’re very hopeful that Donovan will make a speedy recovery, but we have to make certain that we prepare the guys who will be replacing him this week.”
Miller, 24, a six-foot, 208-pound backup linebacker/safety from Riverview, N.B., has played mostly on the Eskimos’ special teams the last two years. He’s excited about possibly getting a chance to play on the starting defence Saturday.
“It’s unfortunate D.A. (Alexander) went down, but I want to take the opportunity and be good at it,” said Miller, who has split playing time with Pierre during practice the last two days.
Miller, who played half of the third quarter and half of the fourth quarter against Saskatchewan and the fourth quarter against B.C. during the pre-season, has only played briefly with the defence as an injury-replacement during the last two years.
A defensive halfback in university with the Acadia Axemen, Miller was initially a backup linebacker with the Eskimos but is now a safety.
“I played safety in high school — that was the last time I played (it) — and it’s completely different. Guys in high school can’t throw the ball, so you’re playing run half the time at safety,” he said.
Reed told Miller to work during the off-season on his change of direction so he could move around a little better because he was going to be tried at safety this season.
So Miller “did a lot of footwork in the off-season and a lot of speed training,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pierre didn’t even expect to play football anymore until Eskimos Canadian scout Rob Ralph asked him to attend the Duane Forde combine this year.
“I was pretty excited because I didn’t think anybody was going to call me. I was like, ‘I’m done with the CFL,’ ” Pierre said. “I came here and this has probably been the most changing experience.”
Unlike the Argos, who never gave Pierre much opportunity to play on the defensive side last year, the Eskimos worked him at both cornerback and safety during training camp and in both pre-season games.
“I came in here, honestly, the goals weren’t really high. I knew they had four Canadian defensive backs,” he said. “I thought I’d bust my butt on special teams and try to get on a practice roster.
“But the opportunities they gave me was more than I expected. To be on the active roster and come in Week 1 and potential start is overwhelming, but it’s what I’ve been working for,” Pierre said.