Redblacks out to make life of Reilly miserable
But after history of illegal hits, ‘we’ll make sure we’re within the rules’
Rick Campbell likes Mike Reilly.
“He’s a good player,” the Ottawa Redblacks head coach said of the Edmonton Eskimos’ star quarterback. “He initially went to Washington State (University), so that automatically makes him a good player, in my book.”
It’s worth mentioning that Campbell graduated from Washington State. Reilly spent only one year there before transferring to Central Washington, so maybe Campbell can work up a little anger before his team faces Reilly’s in the CFL East Division final at TD Place stadium on Sunday.
Campbell’s players will certainly have to make Reilly something of a target. They probably shouldn’t go as far as they did in their last meeting, on Aug. 6, when four Redblacks defenders took major penalties for roughing the Edmonton passer, but a worthwhile goal would involving bumping, jostling and tackling Reilly as often as possible before officials blow their whistles to signal the end of each play.
That would definitely help the cause, given that Reilly led the CFL in passing completions (448), attempts (633) and yards (5,554) during the regular season. He was also deservedly named MVP as Edmonton defeated Ottawa 2620 in the 2015 Grey Cup game at Winnipeg.
“We need to be smarter about that,” Campbell said about the flagged hits following practice Thursday. “We weren’t hitting late. Our guys were hitting him a little bit high — not on purpose — but we’ll make sure we’re within the rules.”
It’s time to introduce Cleyon Laing to this narrative. The Edmonton native, who turns 26 on Monday, was signed by the Redblacks with one game left in the regular season because of the elite pass-rush ability he displayed in four previous CFL campaigns with the Toronto Argonauts.
Laing spent his share of time in the backfield of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in that Nov. 4 contest, but he also took two penalties for unnecessary roughness.
He also has something of a notorious history with Reilly and the Eskimos. He was penalized for unnecessary roughness on plays that led to injury for Reilly in 2013 (helmet-to-helmet hit, concussion), 2014 (unspecified actions during a scramble for a fumbled football, thumb) and 2015 (low hit, knee).
In fairness to Laing, CFL officials determined he was tripped and pushed before falling into Reilly’s legs in the latter incident.
He also wasn’t on the Redblacks’ roster for the Aug. 6 matchup, when linebacker Damaso Munoz and defensive linemen Connor Williams, Zack Evans and Mike Moore delivered the illegal blows on Reilly.
“I look forward to those games every time we play Edmonton,” Laing said. “I’m from Edmonton, and I love playing against Edmonton. The past is the past. I just play hard.
“Some of the penalties were up for debate, but, like I said, I just like to play hard and get after the quarterback.”
Laing also argued, on Thursday, the best way to stifle the Eskimos’ offence was to start by limiting their production on the ground. Tailback John White, who had only 76 total rushing yards in two regular-season games against the Redblacks, racked up 160 in last weekend’s East semifinal victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“They have had good run success the past couple of weeks, so we need to put an end to that end of it,” Laing said. “Then, on the pass rush, we need to cut it loose and get after the quarterback. That’s what we do.”
Reilly received an upper-body injury — likely his left arm or shoulder, although nobody is saying — after being hit by the Ticats’ Simoni Lawrence while running the ball. However, even though backup James Franklin finished at QB and Reilly was wearing a brace upon his return to the sideline, Reilly was taking first-team snaps during practices this week in Edmonton.
“He’s a real tough guy, a real tough competitor, and he’s always pretty composed,” Williams said. “So, if we can get in there and disrupt him, that will be good for us.
“As far as my experience with him, he has never chirped, but he is a super-tough guy, and he does his job. He keeps his nose to the grindstone, and I admire that about him, and I’m looking forward to competing against him on Sunday.”
On the pass rush, we need to cut it loose and get after the quarterback. That’s what we do.