Eskimos hitting stride as camp closes
It’s been a tale of two training camps for the Edmonton Eskimos these last couple seasons.
In 2015, they hit the ground running with the same offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators for the first time in a long time, giving them a head start coming into the pre-season by not having to spend time learning new systems, playbooks or lingo.
But with Chris Jones and Co. off to Regina, rebuilding the Saskatchewan Roughriders roster, it was back to Square 1 for the Eskimos over the past three weeks of training camp and through a pair of pre-season games under new head coach Jason Maas and his staff.
Then again, with two exhibition wins under their belt and the regular-season practices set to begin on Tuesday, you could argue the Eskimos are every bit on par with last year, which also saw them win both pre-season games.
And if quarterback Mike Reilly manages to avoid an injury in Saturday’s season opener against the Ottawa Redblacks (7 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED), like the one that saw him miss half the schedule a year ago, they’ll be miles ahead of last year this time around.
“Every training camp seems to be a little bit different,” Reilly said. “This will be my seventh year in the CFL — I’m still looking young, right? Camps always change, but the reality is, you’re always trying to get ready for the season. It doesn’t matter if you’re the defending Grey Cup champs with your entire (coaching) staff back, had they stayed, or how Calgary was last year, or if you’re coming off a 4-14 season with a new staff or somewhere in between.
“The goal is always to win a championship and to do whatever you have to do to make it work. There’s going to be bumps in the road, there always is, and you can’t know what they’re going to be. We had no idea we were going to lose John White on Day 2 (of training camp). We had no idea we were going to lose me in Week 1.
But the teams that win championships are the teams that don’t worry about that and they’re prepared for any situation. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
It just goes to show you can’t put much faith into something like the continuity of a coaching staff, given how rare the scenario has become in pro football.
The focus, Reilly said, should be on the new faces joining returning veterans in the locker-room.
“We have a lot of good depth on this team, young guys that have come and done a nice job of trying to play at the level of the older guys and that’s what you have to have happen,” Reilly said. “In pro sports, especially football, you’re going to lose guys to injury and you’ve got to be able to put the next guy in. Next man up, that’s how everybody gets their opportunity.
“I got my opportunity to start through an injury to Travis (Lulay), and that’s how Derel Walker got his start last year (with an injury to Adarius Bowman), so you can’t pinpoint who it’s going to be this year, but somebody’s going to be asked to step up and they’re going to need to be ready to go if we’re going to be successful like we want to be.”