Laurent will sit out with injury; Quarterback-sack streak ends at five consecutive games

Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal

Ted Laurent‘s streak will stop at five.

The Edmonton Eskimo defensive tackle had sacked a quarterback in five consecutive games, but will watch his streak come to a halt on Friday. An ankle injury will keep the 24-year-old on the sidelines when his hometown team, the Montreal Alouettes, roll into Commonwealth Stadium.

“It’s real tough. I’ve been playing so well and this stuff happens,” said Laurent, who is tied for second place in the Canadian Football League sack race with Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Bryant Turner.

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Keron Williams leads the league with six.

“It’s a setback, but I’ll come back strong.”

Montreal’s prized offensive line may not be the fortress of quarterback solitude it has been over the past decade, but Friday’s game could pose the biggest challenge Edmonton’s defensive line has faced this season. Eskimo defensive end Marcus Howard isn’t coming off of the one-game injured list. His hamstring is healing, he said, but not quickly enough to get him in to try to re-enact the ferocious take-down he had on Anthony Calvillo last season in Edmonton.

“I’m still a ways away,” he said after spending the day doing foot-work drills and lightly running the stairs at Commonwealth. “I’m trying to push myself to get back as soon as possible.”

Howard led the Eskimos with 11 sacks last year and Laurent leads them in that category this year. While the duo will be missed, the Eskimo depth on the defensive line should help them out. Shawn Lemon, Don Oramasionwu, Etienne Legare, Justin Capicciotti and the recently signed Claude Wroten are all capable of filling in. Lee Robinson is another talented defensive end that looks to be close to coming off of the one-game list as well.

Lemon, Oramasionwu and Legare took first-team reps on Wednesday, alongside mainstay defensive end Julius Williams.

“Our team has been blessed with tremendous depth this year,” Eskimo head coach Kavis Reed said.

“We’ve sustained a lot of injuries and (general manager) Eric (Tillman) has done a very nice job of providing depth at positions we were weak at last year and where we suffered due to injuries. The defensive line was one of them.

“We got Marcus Howard because the depletion of the defensive line grew in the middle of the (2011 season). We’re very fortunate to have the depth we have this year and those guys are going to do a good job for us.”

The end of Laurent’s streak also means the end of his celebratory dance, as well. Laurent debuted the celebration – a slow-motion walk where he bends his knees and rubs his belly – last year. He’s had time to refine it this year and is getting attention for it across the league.
 
During a stoppage in play against Saskatchewan last week, Riders quarterback Darian Durant approached Laurent and mimicked the dance, telling him he liked it. TSN picked up Durant’s compliment, providing a light moment in a hard-fought game.

“He told me that and I just laughed and said, ‘I appreciate that.’ ”

When play resumed, Laurent broke through the Riders O-line, picked up sack No. 5 and gave Durant a good look at the dance. He said Durant was the first quarterback to compliment him.

“Hopefully he won’t be the last. Everyone says it’s creative and they love my dance,” Laurent said. “Everywhere I go they’re rubbing their stomach, like me. It’s all fun, it’s a fun game. We’ve got to keep it going.”

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