In the wake of the Eskimos’ bizarre use of Mike Reilly on Saturday against Montreal, the flavour of the week seems to be to clock the time of death on Kavis Reed’s tenure as the team’s head coach. As John MacKinnon thoughtfully mapped out in Monday’s Journal, there’s more to this decision and the rot of the Eskimos in general than just a head coach.
The Eskimos had an entire week to do the smart thing and bench Mike Reilly. Doing so when they announced his concussion last Sunday would have not only taken the week-long uproar around the team out of the picture, it would have provided clarity for the team as it got ready for a still very important game against the Alouettes. Jonathan Crompton could have taken all of the reps he needed to last week in practice, instead of the 50 per cent he got last Tuesday, then a third on Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe Reed didn’t want to go along with that, but there are people who outrank him — general manager Ed Hervey and team president and CEO Len Rhodes — that had ample opportunity to step in and provide that much-needed clarity.
Reed, Hervey and Rhodes shielded themselves under the blanket of how the league would handle discipline and/or suspensions (Cleyon Laing was fined but not suspended) and returning players’ protocol going forward. This was a time for the Eskimos organization to step up, protect their player (demanding more action be taken against Laing would have helped their cause too) and set an example for the league in how they handled this. None of that happened.
“I feel the same way as the league, that they’re doing everything they can to help with the way that the game is played and player safety is the No. 1 issue,” Hervey said at last week’s press conference regarding Reilly’s concussion.
“As we (teams and the league) meet every year at our meetings, that’s the No. 1 focus, is to eliminate these type of plays and ensure that our players are able to play the game the entire season. Again, it is a physical game. These type of hits, especially the ones to the head (removing them) will make the game safe. We’re working on that and I have full confidence that the league will accomplish those goals.”
At the Canadian Football Hall of Fame jacket ceremony on Wednesday night, Rhodes went a similar route when asked about Reilly.
“From a club standpoint we would never, ever put our players in jeopardy if we thought there was a serious issue. Ever,” Rhodes said.
“We’re going to keep the dialogue and keep it improving. There are people on the field that have a certain vantage point — again, even watching it live I didn’t see (the concussion-inducing hit). What we know after the fact is that it happened and that we’re going to do something about it. The fact that there was a fine levied was very, very important.
“Would I have liked to have seen suspensions on plays like that? Probably, but I understand that everyone has to protect their interests: The players, the players’ association, the clubs, the league, but we all do have a common interest in player safety. How we approach that we’ll have to continue to work together to do that.”
When it came time for the league to make a decision on Laing, what happened? They handled this first:
“The Canadian Football League announced today that it has fined Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant for violating the CFL’s Social Media Policy by sending an offensive and inappropriate tweet in response to a CFL fan.
As per league policy, the amounts of the fines are not disclosed.”
News on Laing came in a separate email, more than an hour later.
The Canadian Football League announced today that it has fined Toronto Argonaut defensive lineman Cleyon Laing for a reckless and dangerous hit to the head of Edmonton Eskimo quarterback Mike Reilly.
It was determined that on the play, Laing lowered his head and led with his helmet, making primary contact with the helmet of his opponent.
Laing was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play.
As per league policy, the amounts of the fines are not disclosed.
It’s a little thing, but combine that with the Eskimos’ terribly executed plans with Reilly on and off of the field this past week, and it’s a big black eye for the league as to how it handles concussions and the plays that create them.
I see Ed Hervey on the field at Eskimos practice every day, patrolling the sidelines, talking with players, mingling with his coaches. You can’t convince me that he didn’t know that his team’s game plan for its star QB was to not allow him to leave the pocket and rush, or take more than a read off of a snap. I’d ask him myself but on my last direct interview request (after their loss to Toronto on Sept. 28), I got the GM’s back and a resounding, “No!”
Kavis Reed is at fault for going ahead with this terrible (and risky) game plan, but there were many weak links in the chain along the way that allowed Saturday’s embarrassment of a showing to happen, through the Eskimos higher-ups and to a larger extent to the league as well. When you coach a team to three wins — and that may well be all they get this season, considering the Eskimos’ final four opponents — change is likely to come.
But this fiasco with Mike Reilly? This is something the entire Eskimos organization wears.
Week-end winners
Game of the week: Saskatchewan at B.C. – Nothing pretty to choose from in a quartet of blowouts, but Kory Sheets’ return underlined his importance to his team (if their record in his absence didn’t already). Sheets’ 14 runs for 80 yards and two TDs, and six catches for 41 yards helped hand the Lions their first loss at BC Place this season. And that’s noteworthy, even if the score wasn’t.
Players of the week (identical to the league’s picks, announced this morning).
Offence: Jon Cornish, Calgary — Seventeen carries, 208 yards, two receptions for 24 yards in a blowout win over Winnipeg. Says it all.
Defence: Jerald Brown, Montreal – Three tackles and two interceptions, as a part of the Als’ dominant win over the Eskimos.
Special teams: Will Ford, Winnipeg – A rare Bombers’ bright spot. A 100-yard kick-return TD in another big, painful loss for a team that’s been kicked as much or more than the Eskimos this year.
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