The sun will have been sitting in the sky for more than four hours by the time the Edmonton Eskimos leave for Calgary on Sunday.
The morning chill that settled in over the team’s early walkthrough practice should be long gone by then, but the Esks will still make the trip south enveloped in a fog of uncertainty.
There are no definitive answers as to who the team’s starting quarterback will be on Labour Day, after a walkthrough practice that saw reps split fairly evenly between starter Mike Reilly, backup Matt Nichols and third-stringer Pat White.
Not even the release of the Eskimos’ depth chart proved conclusive. Reilly was listed as the team’s starter for its date with the Calgary Stampeders during the walkthrough, but the final chunk of practice – if you want to read this deeply into it – saw Nichols in on the majority of those final reps.
Nichols, who went in for Reilly in the first quarter of last week’s win over the Toronto Argonauts when Reilly injured his thumb, said it’s not worth reading into.
“We honestly don’t know who’s starting yet,” he said.
“This is a tough thing where it’s an injury like this. It’s a wait-and-see-how-it-feels thing and I think it’s progressively gotten better for Mike. As far as I know it’s going to be a decision (Sunday night) sometime hopefully and if not and they tell me right before the game that I’m going in then I’m going to be ready to go.”
“I think it’s about the same,” Reilly said of the clarity on the situation.
“Those are decisions that are made by other people and until we’re told otherwise we’re both going to be ready to play.
“Matt’s done a great job this week, so regardless if I’m on the field or not we’re going to be in good hands.”
That’s not the booming confidence you’d hope for from the listed starter. Reilly has dealt with swelling in his thumb throughout this week. After taking part in Saturday’s practice, he said there was some inflammation afterward from the work that he put in, but that it resided this morning.
“We’re not out here throwing footballs, it’s just a walkthrough (practice) so it’s hard to say. It feels pretty good,” Reilly said of his hand.
“I’d love it to be 100 per cent, but it’s just not the case and rarely are you 100 per cent during the course of the season. It’s something you’ve got to work through.”
Nichols’ Canadian Football League resume is still relatively short, but he has a lot of experience against Calgary. He got his first-ever start against the Stampeders late in the 2011 season and played the final game of the 2012 season against Calgary. He found out he was starting that game about 10 hours outside of kickoff.
“I didn’t know until breakfast that morning,” he said of the 2012 start.
“I’ve gotten some good reps this week and got some good game reps last week so if I’m asked to play I’ll play and if not I’m going to help Mike as much as I can.”
The Eskimos and Stampeders are both 7-1 and will be playing for the best record in the league. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. at McMahon Stadium, with the game airing on 630 CHED and TSN.
