Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal
Almondo Sewell was in a great chaos-inducing rhythm. Then his hamstring got in the way.
The Edmonton Eskimo defensive tackle jumped out of the gate to start the Canadian Football League season, recording three quarterback sacks in five games. He’d added 10 tackles and, for a brief moment, was leading the league in sacks. A hamstring injury has kept him out the past two weeks and brought his strong start to a sudden and frustrating halt.
“It’s been terrible, just sitting there trying to get healthy,” Sewell, 25, said after practising on Friday.
The six-foot-four, 288-pound Trenton, N.J., native is ready to try to get that momentum rolling again on Monday against the Toronto Argonauts.
“In a little way it is (frustrating) because I had momentum and now I have to come back out and pick it up from where I left off at and keep contributing to the team.”
He may have a good shot at that on Monday. Sewell had two of his three sacks against the Argos in Week 1.
With injuries still weighing down the defensive line – Marcus Howard, Ted Laurent and Justin Capicciotti are expected to miss Monday’s game – Sewell should have his share of opportunities to haul Ricky Ray to the ground again.
In their 38-25 loss to Montreal last week, the Eskimos failed to get a sack in a game for the first time this season. Watching that from the sidelines, Sewell said, wasn’t fun.
“It’s hard to watch when you know you’re supposed to be out there playing,” he said. “I wish I was out there with the boys on the D-line. I’m back out there and I’m going to go out there and pick it up from where I left off. Get some more sacks.”
Eskies’ coach Reed has respect for Ray:
Going up against Ricky Ray for the second time this season, Eskimo head coach Kavis Reed said that his team’s defence would have to be tight against the quarterback he knows so well.
“Ricky is a very good quarterback and he’s finding his targets,” he said of the former Eskimo star.
“The same thing I said about him last year is that he’s a very accurate quarterback.
“He’s a great leader and he makes everyone around him better. For us as a defence we have to make certain that we’re very tight in our coverage because a small window is a big enough window for Ricky.
“(We need to) get some pressure and take him off of his game a bit, which is a herculean task in itself.”
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