June 23, 2011
Edmonton Eskimos
ESKS.com Staff
The Eskimos host the final pre-season game of the 2011 CFL season on Friday night at 7:00pm at Commonwealth Stadium. With their starters in the line-up this week, the Calgary offence will be looking to score their first points of the season, coming off a 24-0 loss to the BC Lions last week at home. The Esks battled back in windy conditions in Saskatchewan last Friday, losing by one point to the Riders.
Head Coach Kavis Reed liked what he saw from his staff and players in Regina. “I was really impressed with the way the coaches managed the game with the conditions and I was really impressed with how the players responded.”
Quarterback Ricky Ray was one of the few players who watched the last game from the sidelines. “Going into this game I’m going to try to get my rust off while everybody else is kind of getting into a rhythm,” says Ray. Expect to see Ray and the rest of the projected starters for at least a half tomorrow night.
While Ray gets back into game form, most players are anxious to see how they do with a game under their belt. The defence used last game to get comfortable with each other. Although they are still in the process of learning a new defensive system, they feel they’ve made significant improvements from a week ago. “Tomorrow with the Stampeders we’re going to get pretty much their best look because they’re coming out with their ones and we’re going to come out with our ones,” says free safety TJ Hill. “It’ll definitely be a good measuring stick for us just to see where we are.”
There are a couple position battles the coaches will be looking at tomorrow, but this game is more about seeing how much the players have grasped the schemes they’ve been learning for the past three weeks. Says Reed, “There will be a few decisions made off tomorrow night’s game, but for the most-part I think we have enough snaps, both in game and in practice, to know who deserves an opportunity to be on the opening day roster.”
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