Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks
If you were hoping for good news from the Edmonton Elks’ intra-squad scrimmage, you won’t find it on the offensive side of the ball.
The Green and Gold’s projected starting offence stunk out the joint at Clarke Stadium on Sunday, prompting an uncharacteristically blunt assessment from quarterback Cody Fajardo.
“Bad,” Fajardo told reporters when asked to describe the performance. “I’m going to talk about my unit. We wouldn’t have passed the grade today. It was quite embarrassing what we put on tape. Guys know that. Guys know how we felt.”
The 34-year-old pivot is generally known for his positive outlook, but there was no “aw, shucks” smile on this occasion. He cited mental errors and bad penalties as the root of the trouble, while observers also noted a couple of interceptions.
“Three two-and-outs early on. Obviously, a scrimmage is hard because you’re not tackling to the ground, and sometimes you hand the ball off, and you think you’d get more in some second-and-long situations. But just a lot of mistakes, myself included. It was not pretty,” Fajardo said.
“We have to look at the film, but the initial taste in my mouth is not good. It will drive us going forward.”
The Elks finished last in both net offence and offensive points last season, which contributed to the team finishing 7-11 and missing the playoffs. Edmonton made major additions up front in free agency to solve their protection issues, signing offensive linemen Coulter Woodmansey, Brendan Bordner, and Jordan Murray. They also acquired a number of new receiving weapons for Fajardo, including Austin Mack and Joe Robustelli. That led the quarterback to assert earlier this week that the franchise has a Grey Cup-winning roster.
Head coach Mark Kilam acknowledged that the new-look unit needed more practice and had no issue with Fajardo taking them to task after their first simulated game action.
“He has high expectations for the football team, for himself, and for the offence. That’s what your leaders should have,” he insisted. “This is why we practice, this is why we did it. We have a ton to get better from.”
Fajardo did provide some caveats to his criticism, noting that quick scrimmage whistles did not allow the physical running style of Justin Rankin to shine like it normally would. If there was a silver lining, it was that the mistakes came against players wearing the same colours and are now out of the team’s system before the live bullets start flying.
“Sometimes you need those hard days where things just aren’t going right. But it was nowhere near our standard today, and it was a tough day for us offensively,” Fajardo admitted.
“I think the exciting part, especially for us, is they dialled back the ones’ reps throughout the first week because they’ve got guys to evaluate, which we understand. It’s not a built-in excuse, but it’s just a reason why I think we played a little bit slower than normal. We’ve had limited reps over the last week because there are guys in the twos, threes, and fours that need to get evaluated. We’re gonna have a lot of time to get ready for that first preseason game.”
Edmonton will play its first preseason game against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, May 23, and their second preseason game against the Calgary Stampeders on Friday, May 29. Final roster cuts are due on Saturday, May 30, after which the team will play its first regular-season game against the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, June 6.
Editor’s note: This article was written using key files obtained by 3DownNation contributor Andrew Hoskins.
