Redblacks bolster backup QB position
Former B.C. pivot Joey Elliott to fill in for injured Thomas DeMarco
In the wake of a tough loss in Montreal, the Ottawa Redblacks have announced the signing of former Winnipeg and B.C. pivot Joey Elliott.
The one-time Purdue Boilermaker, who is six-three and weighs 210 pounds, has been added to the practice roster where he has been boning up on the playbook for a couple of days. He has CFL experience with Winnipeg for three seasons and with the B.C. Lions last season. Ironically, B.C. will be at TD Place Stadium on Friday.
Also signed are Canadians Kalonji Kashama, a defensive lineman and Matthew Burke a fullback, both are on the active roster. The team also added offensive lineman Hugo Desmarais to the active ros- ter and put him on the one-game injured list. Kashama was a Redblacks draft pick in 2013. He went back to school and then tried out for Detroit Lions as unsigned free agent.
But the key acquisition is Elliott, who likely will fill in for the injured Thomas DeMarco, who is gone for the season because of a torn ACL. With Winnipeg, Elliott was 215for-371 over three years, most of that was in 2012.
The Redblacks could use some good news, particularly after a tough 20-10 loss to Montreal, one of the teams they will have to pass if they have any hope of making the playoffs in their inaugural season.
“It’s tough to win when you’re not scoring, and then the penalties,” said head coach Rick Campbell after the game Friday night.
“Any football team, you can’t take the amount of penalties we took (17 for 135 yards), and we have to choose to not have the moment be too big for us or too emotional for us, where we lose our way. We need to keep the yards we earn by not taking penalties. We’re going to keep working at this thing.
“There’s a lot of good football players on this team. They’re going to be around Ottawa for a long time, a lot of young guys, and we’ve got to make sure we don’t lose sight of that. When you lose like this, things get tough, but we’re going to keep coaching them and keep finding ways to get better.”
As for No. 1 quarterback Henry Burris, he says the players know they can’t take too many penalties, but it is not a simple as just saying so.
“Guys understand the things that are beating us, and the hardest thing to figure out is why we keep doing them, especially the penalties. It’s hard to beat anybody when you have almost 150 yards in penalties, especially with the opportunities we had on offence.”