Eskimos, Reilly come to terms with a lost season

EDMONTON— As the only West Division team that won’t make the playoffs in a season when the 106th edition of the Grey Cup will be played in their stadium, the Edmonton Eskimos face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Saturday with nothing on the line except pride. The Eskimos wasted a 5-2 start by going 3-7 in their last 10 games before being officially eliminated from the big pigskin party in their own backyard when the Blue Bombers defeated the Calgary Stampeders 2921 last Friday.

“There’s always pride,” quarterback Mike Reilly said. “You’re always playing for pride. I don’t care if it’s preseason, regular season, postseason, Grey Cup, when you put on the jersey and step on the field, you’re representing yourself, your family, your team and your city, all those different things. It doesn’t change tomorrow.”

Edmonton general manager Brock Sunderland spent the last week answering questions about what went wrong and what the future might hold for everyone from head coach Jason Maas and his staff to Reilly, who will be a free agent.

“You do what you do. You play ball,” veteran fullback Calvin McCarty said.