Cornish likely gone for six games
Eskimos defensive end Odell Willis is not about to send a sympathy note to Calgary Stampeders headquarters over the concussion troubles of Jon Cornish.
No Cornish, i n Willis’s mind, means a better chance Thursday at repeatedly plowing quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell into the turf at Commonwealth Stadium.
“Jon Cornish is a great back in this league,” Willis pronounced Wednesday as the Edmonton Eskimos (4-0) sauntered to their dressing room after a brief walkthrough practice.
“The things he’s done in this league, they speak for themselves. He’s the most outstanding player. He’s the most outstanding Canadian. He’s a hard runner. He’s a hard worker. It’s unfortunate what he’s going through. I hope he gets better.
“But without him in there, I feel we can tee off a little bit more on Bo Levi Mitchell. No disrespect to the other running backs. We just don’t feel they have the same capability as Jon Cornish with running and catching and blocking and all the other things.”
“The things I still have left to win aren’t won during the season.”
JON CORNISH
Life without Cornish is the new reality, at least in the foreseeable future, for the Calgary Stampeders. On Wednesday, head coach/ general manager John Hufnagel assigned the face of the franchise to the six-game injured list, which makes him eligible to return Sept. 6 for the Labour Day rematch in Edmonton.
Should the symptoms cease in the meantime, the Stamps can use one of their two early recalls on the 2013 CFL rushing leader.
“He had done well, and then he had some recurring headaches,” Hufnagel said. “And then he would do well and the headaches would come back. So we wanted to put him on six-game, because right now we don’t know the length of time. We’re hoping it’s not six games ... but at least if it is, then we have some protection under the salary cap system.”
The Stamps have protection against Cornish’s cap hit.
“It’s frustrating for him,” Hufnagel said. “Maybe removing the pressure of him trying to get back as soon as possible will help the healing process. We’ll just hope for the best and get him back on the field when he’s healthy and he’s comfortable.”
Cornish, 29, is clearly on the same page.
“The future of my job(s) and life necessitated making a decision I will not regret,” Cornish, who passed the Canadian Securities Course last winter and works in investments at TD Canada Trust wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “To the fans that are worried about stats/accolades … the things I still have left to win aren’t won during the season.”
In the season opener against Montreal, Cornish suffered a concussion on a vicious clothesline to the head by linebacker Kyries Hebert. The CFL fined Hebert half a game cheque. Cornish has not played since.
With Cornish out, Calgary product Matt Walter will start Thursday at tailback for the Stamps in Edmonton, with help along the way from import Jock Sanders.