Reid fired up for return to Eskimos; Canadian DT set to come off injured list in September

Evan Daum
Edmonton Journal

It had been a while, but Edmonton Eskimo Jermaine Reid was finally back at Commonwealth Stadium Wednesday.

While the defensive tackle didn’t take part in practice, as the Esks prepare for their Monday night game against the Toronto Argonauts, Reid’s presence was a welcome sight after the Pickering, Ont., native had been away from the team since the end of last season.

“I knew it was hurting coming to the end of last season, but I didn’t know what,” Reid said of the torn labrum in his right shoulder. “I found out I partially tore it and ultimately went into the off-season trying to rehab it and trying to get it back.

“It was rough. I couldn’t actually get it back to normal on my own. It just wasn’t working. I did everything I possibly could and it just wasn’t getting better, so I decided to get surgery come late April. It kind of put me out for training camp and the first part of the season.”

After playing in 18 games last season for the Esks, the Akron University product will add some much needed depth to the Esks’ lineup when he’s finally taken off the nine-game injured list, which won’t happen until Sept. 7 at the earliest.

“I’m feeling great. I’ve got my complete range of motion back. I’m still working on getting most of my strength back,” Reid explained. “I’m just ready to play and get back on the field.

“I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon to see the team docs and we’re going to go from there.”

Despite warning signs that his injury could’ve been more serious a season ago, Reid pushed through the pain on a run that almost led the former Hamilton Tiger-Cat to his first Grey Cup appearance.

“It was one of those things where I talked with our trainers about it and they were concerned as well and they asked me if I still could play,” Reid said. “Being as stubborn as I am, there was no way that I wasn’t going to. I just kind of put the head down and kept fighting through it. At the end of the season I found out what really was wrong.

“I’ve been in the league for a while and that was the closest I’ve come to a Grey Cup ever and I was so excited.”

With a number of injuries over the first seven games of the season on the defensive line, including a hamstring injury to Almondo Sewell who was back in action Wednesday, Esks head coach Kavis Reed knows Reid will be a valuable asset when he is fully healthy.

“Pretty much we’re thinking a couple weeks after the nine-game expires,” Reid said of a possible return to the lineup for the defensive tackle. “Given all the injuries we’ve been sustaining this year, I think he’ll find a natural spot somewhere.”

While his versatility will be a much-needed boost to the Esks’ depleted D-line, so too will his passport, which gives Edmonton some added flexibility in terms of their Canadian ratio.

“What we were going with was three American defensive ends and if Jermaine is healthy, he can do that and now we cut down that American defensive end (to) backup and have Jermaine able to do it,” Reed explained.

Expecting to play at some point in September, Reid will join a defence that has been among the CFL’s best so far this season, surrendering only 137 points, second to only the BC Lions in that defensive category.

“I can’t give these guys credit enough. They’ve gone through so much already and I missed them the entire time I was gone,” Reid explained. “I’m glad I’m back out here and I’m glad to get it going.”

As for how much CFL action Reid had been able to see through seven games this season, not as much as he would’ve liked, as he rehabbed at his family home in Ohio.

“I was trying everything possible. I was constantly on the CFL live tracker following the games,” Reid said of how he kept tabs on his teammates while away.

“I think my wife got a little tired of my late nights sitting, just looking at my phone and watching it go by. She was probably getting anxious for me to go too, because I was getting that football itch.”

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