Eskimos have reason to give thanks
Receiver Williams good to go against Roughriders, writes Robert Tychkowski.
Seeing Duke Williams on the field again after missing the last two days of practice created quite the breeze on Friday, but that’s to be expected when an entire football team exhales at the same time.
Seeing the CFL’s leading receiver out there running routes rather than icing an injured shoulder has all of the Edmonton Eskimos breathing easier.
“I feel good,” said Williams, whose 10 touchdown receptions are more than all of Edmonton’s other active receivers combined. “A little tweak here and there, but I’ll be all right.”
Eskimos fans feared the worst last week when a crushing hit from Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Marcus Sayles late in the fourth quarter left Williams writhing on the ground and unable to continue. With receiver Derel Walker already on the shelf, the struggling offence could not afford to lose its most important target.
“I was definitely in pain, but pain is temporary,” said Williams. “It lasted a couple of minutes, maybe a day, but once the next day hit, I was all right.”
The Esks had a feeling Williams was going to be ready, but until he laced up the cleats on Friday, nobody really knew for sure.
“What you think and what you get are two different things sometimes,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “It’s great to have him back. Obviously, the treatments helped and he feels a whole lot better.
“I expected him to play. I would have been surprised if he wasn’t able to go.”
It’s a big return. Wading into the most hostile venue in the CFL (Regina’s Mosaic Field), against one of the hottest teams (Saskatchewan Roughriders) in the league, without their top two receivers would have been like cows wading into a slaughterhouse.
It’s still going to be a tall order, beating the Roughriders in their own building on Thanksgiving Monday, but at least now, with Williams in the lineup, they have a fighting chance.
“Right now he’s the leading receiver in the league, and you’re already missing Derel Walker, who, if he would have stayed healthy, would probably be leading it as well,” said Maas. “If you’re losing both those guys, it’s a different story for our offence.
“To have Duke’s toughness and the way he plays back out on the field for us is a big deal.”
The fact he missed the first two days of practice suggests Walker isn’t 100 per cent, but then again, what football player is 100 per cent in the 17th week of the season.
“It don’t matter,” he said of his comfort level. “Nobody ever ends the season at 100 (per cent). I don’t care who it is. He’s lying to you if he says he’s 100 at the end of the season. Or he’s not playing hard enough. It comes with the aches and it comes with the pains, but can you fight through.
“It’s going to have to be something really crazy for me to not play. I’m not worried about any pain.”
That’s the life of a football player: You have to be tough and you have to play hurt. And it helps if you’ve been conditioned your whole life to disregard anything that doesn’t require stitches, surgery or a cast.
“From being young and running around, scraping my knees on the ground, running into poles on skates, that’s where it comes from,” said a chuckling Williams. “My mom, she’s definitely tough. And one thing she taught us to be tough.
“Everything isn’t going to go our way, but it’s about how we respond.”
After back to back losses, in which the Eskimos scored a grand total of 18 points and dropped into a tie for third place, the Eskimos need to respond on Monday. It won’t be easy in Regina, against a team that’s 6-1 in its last seven outings, but Edmonton’s season might depend on it.
“This is one of the most important games of the season, right here,” said Williams. “We’re in a situation where we don’t have any room for error. In all phases of the football game — offence, defence, special teams — there’s no room for error.
“We have come prepared. We know they’re coming prepared. It’s on us. We have to want to do this. This is our job. We get paid to do this. We have to love it.
“That’s what it’s about now — finishing strong, fighting every play, competing. Being willing to win.”