With Friday’s CFL preseason game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders inching closer, Kavis Reed has an announcement to make.
The Edmonton Eskimos’ head coach said on Monday that he’s known for months who he’ll start at quarterback in the team’s first preseason game. Between now and Thursday, it seems that Reed will have some fun with making the news of whether it’s Mike Reilly or Matt Nichols public.
“Yeah I knew (who would start) more than a couple of months ago and it’s by design that we’re going to do it this way,” Reed said. “We have to put those guys in situations where we’re going to get answers to not only their physical ability but also their psychological stasis.”
“So, is it Reilly?” one reporter asked.
“You’re smart. You’re very smart and I’m not going to answer that because you’re so smart,” Reed said.
“So that’s a yes?” another asked.
“Whomever is going to start there has been a conscious deliberation on when that person is going to start,” Reed said.
The coach was asked if he’d give a name.
“I’ll tell you right now. The name starts with an M,” Reed said back, grinning.
“I’ll give you another hint: (the next letter) is a vowel.
“It’s a four-letter word. I knew you guys were very intelligent,” he said. “I knew that.”
Regardless of where the names fit on the roster, after nine consecutive days of work the Eskimos are ready to play a game.
“We’ve been dancing with our sisters for a week. Now we’re going to go out on the floor and see if we can catch a real girl,” Eskimos defensive backs coach Brad Miller said.
“We’ve been dancing with our sisters for a week. Now we’re going to go out on the floor and see if we can catch a real girl.” — Eskimos defensive backs coach Brad Miller.
GOOD FIRST DAY FOR SWEENEY
Signed for less than 24 hours, receiver Isaiah Sweeney made a good impression on Reed in his first full practice with the Eskimos on Monday morning. The University of Houston product showed good hands and a lot of quickness running routes in the Field House at Commonwealth Stadium.
“Very pleased with the new guy, Mr. Sweeney,” Reed said. “He showed that he has a four-two speed, showed that he’s adept at route running. We put him through almost a route tree on those eight plays that he got and he did absolutely phenomenal job.”
Reed noted that the next two days of practice would be telling for the 22-year-old, when his legs start to feel heavy from the grind of continual workouts. Sweeney will play on Friday against the Riders.
On the opposite end of the receiver spectrum, the Eskimos released receiver Verran Tucker at the conclusion of their afternoon practice on Monday. Tucker was one of the nine players that were added to the Eskimos’ roster on the first day of training camp.
O-LINE NOT IN TROUBLE THIS WEEK
After a tumultuous first week of training camp for the Eskimos’ offensive line, Reed saw positives from the group on Monday and made a point of praising their work.
“This was by far and away our best day for the offensive line,” he said, noting their blocking as exceptional. “And their protection was good. We had one protection bust in 42 plays and that’s a compliment to them.”
With three linemen cut to open camp last week and a painfully public berating of the linemen in practice last Tuesday, Reed spoke of being patient with the group in Week 2 of camp.
“If you look at our offensive line there are five guys and all five of them are relatively new in their positions,” he said. “Simeon (Rottier) is moving back to the right side (guard). He played the left side for as long as he played last year and I don’t think he made it through nine games.
“Everything is new. Those five guys are new and they’re in different positions. (Centre) Gord Hinse didn’t play at all last year so we have to look at it as we said we’re going to be committed to building the offensive line and we have to be patient with their maturation and make certain we’re doing things smartly to help them develop as fast as possible.”
The team’s first-unit offensive line to this point has been Cliff Louis at left tackle, Brian Ramsay at left guard, Hinse at centre, Rottier at right guard and Matt O’Donnell at right tackle.
END OF TWO-A-DAYS
Tuesday will mark the Eskimos’ final two-a-day session. As the physicality of camp wears on and stretches into its 10th day, the scheduling change will be a welcome one for the Eskimos.
“I really believe that the players really like the first part of training camp to be over, simply because they can now see that the season is getting closer,” Reed said. “Their bodies can start to recover and they can start focusing on getting into a routine in terms of preparation for the season and how it will be for the season.”
The Eskimos will have a single practice on Wednesday and will do a walk through on Thursday to finalize their preparation for Friday’s game against Saskatchewan.
