BigBlue

yup .... thats the metal tester for both of us .... I am assu,img we win to make the top 3

winning streaks are notoriously difficult to maintain .... besides we are the first top 3 team the Esks have met this year (I am not counting the BC Pussycats as a top 3 team right now - they have noy beaten anybody tough yet) I think we win on talent plus team spirit

first time in recent memory no roster changes by us .... i see they have 2 OL vets back ... how will their conditioning be?

https://www.thestar.com/sports/argos/2017/08/14/rays-recovery-throws-argonauts-game-plan-up-in-the-air.html Injured Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray is making progress with his sore shoulder, but not enough to guarantee he’ll play in Saturday’s rematch with the Montreal Alouettes at BMO Field. That’s why coach Marc Trestman has a pointed conversation with backups Jeff Mathews and Cody Fajardo at Monday’s practice. “We left a lot out there at that position,” Trestman said of the fill-in QBs’ performance in Friday’s 21-9 loss in Montreal. “We had guys open … (Mathews and Fajardo) owned up to it, and they want to improve upon their mistakes. But we have to be better at quarterback.” Trestman and the Argos led the CFL’s East Division heading into Friday, but left in second place at 3-5. That loss made crystal clear what the Boatmen need to work on before Saturday’s return engagement. Toronto’s penchant for too many costly penalties continued in Montreal. Add in the letdown in execution at quarterback and the result was a demoralizing defeat against a division rival. The Argos had their chances. A red zone completion was fumbled, and another was brought back because of a penalty, leaving the Boatmen with a bitter pill to swallow after limiting the Als to just three points in the second half. “We played well enough,” said Trestman. “The tapes showed (it). We played well enough on defence. We tackled well. But penalties stopped extended drives.” riffin The coach made it clear that he wasn’t blaming Mathews and Fajardo for the defeat. The backups are in a tough spot, trying to replace Ray — who had thrown for 300 yards in six consecutive games before his injury late in a July 29 loss to the Roughriders in Regina. Still, the Argos failed to move the ball past midfield in the first quarter against the Alouettes, and struggled throughout to get the offence going. Trestman said he’ll monitor Ray’s progress for another day or two before making a decision on a starter for Saturday’s game. “(Ray) threw a bit and we’ll see (Tuesday) and decide from that point,” Trestman said. “But I told the guys that we don’t have to work any harder or prepare any harder. But on game day, we have to play the way we practise. We practise clean. Now we’ve got to play clean.” Should Ray miss a second week, Fajardo could get the call after taking the reins in the second half on Friday. His running game could help if the air attack stalls. In Montreal, the Argos also went more to running back Brandon Whitaker, who had his best game of the season — 13 carries for 96 yards — against an Alouettes defence ranked No. 1 against the rush.

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/cfl-edmonton-eskimos-ottawa-redblacks-5-things Calling it a perfect start to the season is somewhat misleading. Yes, the Edmonton Eskimos are winning games, but they are also losing players to injury week in and week out makes their formula for success unsustainable. Still, the results, so far, speak for themselves as the Eskimos sit in first place at 7-0 to match their second-best start to a season in franchise history, dating back to 1961. And win No. 7 came in the same place they last lost, having fallen to the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place Stadium in the 2016 East Division final. This time, the Eskimos won 27-20 to sweep the season series and mark a run of 12 wins in their last 13 regular-season games since head Jason Maas got off to a 5-7 start as their head coach. Here’s what we learned from Thursday’s win. 1. Borrowed time With two more starters getting hurt, it’s getting more and more difficult to shake the feeling these Eskimos are playing on borrowed time. That line was cut and pasted from last week’s things we learned. This time, it was the defensive line’s turn on an injury carousel that began twirling after opening day of training camp. At this point, it’s spinning out of control, with perennial all-star defensive tackle Almondo Sewell and defensive end Marcus Howard going down with what head coach Jason Maas referred to as “devastating” injuries.' 2. Seeing red How can a team that dominated in time of possession by 12 minutes, led by nearly 200 yards of net offence and nine first downs while actually getting penalized less yards than the opposition for once, still let the game be decided on the final play? One big reason is because for as good as Edmonton’s offence moved the ball downfield, they had trouble finishing in the red zone, scoring just one touchdown in four tries. Of course, the opening drive saw them cruise right through the final 20 yards thanks to a 35-yard touchdown catch by running back LaDarius Perkins. So, there’s that. 3. Big boot Hugh O’Neill has been lights out since taking over for injured kicker Sean Whyte. After going six-for-six between the uprights these last two games, it took a 49-yarder on his final attempt Thursday to miss his first field goal. While it meant the opposing offence had one more chance to tie things up in the final minute, it almost seemed predetermined this would be another game to go right down to the wire anyway. And besides, O’Neill had just come up with a coffin-corner punt that pinned Ottawa on their one yard-line, leading to a two-and-out that gave Edmonton the ball back in Ottawa territory for the winning touchdown drive. 4. Well received An Eskimos offence without star receiver Adarius Bowman or team-leading pass-catcher Brandon Zylstra hasn’t missed a beat. A big reason for that has been the efforts of Bryant Mitchell, who posted his second straight 100-yard game Thursday catching all seven passes thrown his way for 114 yards. Kenny Stafford’s shown he hasn’t lost a step with a 70-yard catch. With rookie Duke Williams a healthy scratch and three Canadian receivers starting for the first time this season, veteran slotback Chris Getzlaf came up with his first touchdown of 2017 on the game-winning drive. Shamawd Chambers also played his first game in green and gold since the 2015 Grey Cup. 5. Arm and legs It was the Mike Reilly of old, using both his arm and legs to help track down close to 500 yards of net offence. While he had 384 yards through the air on the way to a club record 17 straight games with a touchdown pass, his contribution of 51 yards on the ground matched that of running back Perkins. While it was the most Reilly’s run in a game since the 2015 Grey Cup, it had to leave his coaching staff wincing all 11 times he scrambled. The last thing they need with the injuries this team has suffered this season is to have a replay of Reilly going down like he did in that 2015 season opener. Then again, the Eskimos didn’t get to 7-0 by having their on-field general play cautiously.

Found this http://www.torontosun.com/2017/08/15/looking-like-argos-ray-will-return-for-game-against-als Barring a setback, star quarterback Ricky Ray should be under centre for the Toronto Argonauts when the team hosts the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Ray, who suffered a shoulder injury after being hit hard during an Aug. 3 loss against Calgary and missed last week’s game against the Als, took all of the reps at practice on Tuesday and said he is feeling much better. “I’d say I’m pain free. There’s still a little soreness in my shoulder, it’s to be expected,” Ray said after practice. “I’m hoping over this week getting back into throwing every day that it will slowly get better.” Ray said there is a huge difference between where he was just seven days ago and now. “A ton better. Last week I had a pretty painful, pinch in my shoulder. It affected the way I was throwing, couldn’t really put velocity on it, now it’s just a little bit of soreness,” he said. Will he play against Montreal, an important game with the Alouettes passing the Argos, losers of three straight, for first place in the East? “That’s what I’m hoping for. One day at a time, seeing how it responds. I’ll be throwing a lot these next few days, but I’m hoping I’ll be ready to go,” Ray said. Ray said he didn’t do much of anything other than getting treatment over the past week and it has worked wonders. “He had a very efficient practice,” head coach Marc Trestman said of Ray. “Ricky practised the entire day ... we’ll see how he is tomorrow, how he comes out, he threw about 25, 26 balls today, didn’t take any breaks.” Trestman wouldn’t say who his backup would be should Ray return to the starting lineup. Jeff Mathews struggled against the Als and was replaced by Cody Fajardo. Not surprisingly, the team’s ground game finally got untracked last week. “We pushed it. We ran the ball a lot because of the fronts we knew we were going to get,” explained offensive tackle Chris Van Zeyl. And Fajardo (nine rushes for 60 yards) made a difference. “I think defensive linemen worry a little more about Cody being able to get out of the pocket when he is out there then some other quarterbacks. Cody can run. He’s faster than probably most of the guys on our team,” said Van Zeyl. Ray, of course, has built his stellar career on his pin-point passing accuracy, not an ability to move around on the field, so can the Argos find a balance with him at the helm? “We want to be explosive in every play that we run out there,” Ray said. “Last week we got into a pretty good rhythm and we stuck with it. We were able to get a lot of yardage out of the run game. The more things you can do well offensively, the tougher it is to defend you and if we can get things going, it will open up a lot of different things for us.” Ray said the team is making a point of emphasis at every practice of improving its pass protection. “It’s not something we’re just saying we’ve got to do, we’re actually working on it and I feel like we’re moving in the right direction,” he said, after kicking himself for holding the ball too long against Calgary, which he said led to his shoulder injury. Running more could help, but Van Zeyl said the key will be giving Ray a few more precious seconds to operate. “Just protect him, let him pick them apart. When you have a Hall of Fame quarterback behind you, all you have to do is give him time,” he said. CHANGES AT RECEIVER The Argos released American wide receiver Khalil Paden, who dropped a catchable ball in the end zone last week in Montreal and didn’t do much overall in his time in Toronto. Paden, who won a Grey Cup with Ottawa last year, hauling in a touchdown pass in the East final, made only nine receptions for 107 yards and no touchdowns while with the Argonauts. “All the best 2 my teammates in Toronto & nothing but respect for Jim Popp & Coach Trestman...my release was the best decision for both sides,” Paden tweeted on Tuesday morning. Fellow wide receivers DeVier Posey and Chandler Worthy have missed five games due to injury, but Trestman said Posey, who is still second on the team in touchdown receptions and receptions of at least 30 yards, despite all of his missed time, was on the field for Tuesday’s practice. A return for the important playmaker could be on the horizon. However, Trestman said Worthy is not practising and remains day-to-day. International receiver Kendall Sanders, who had been on the practice roster since signing on July 20, drew good reviews from the coach. “We gave (Sanders) most of the work today for (Paden) and (Canadian Malcolm Williams) got some work and (Posey) got some work, so we’ll just assess things the next couple of days at practice,” Trestman said. “Kendall’s been with us, he’s been around us, but he hasn’t practised like he did today. He had an active practice today, took a lot of the reps and he was, I thought, part of a very efficient practice offensively for our football team.” QUICK HITS Trestman said defensive lynch pins Cleyon Laing and Victor Butler will not be ready to return to action against Montreal (both were injured against Ottawa late last month). Defensive tackle Alan-Michael Cash might finally be ready to make his debut against his former team on Saturday. “It’s certainly possible we can get him (in the lineup),” Trestman said ... Running back Brandon Whitaker rushed for 96 yards against Montreal on 13 carries. That more than doubled his season rushing total and it was more carries than he had managed in his previous two outings combined, one this month, one in mid-July.

I might want to change my Montreal Toronto pick

I hear Ricky Ray is taking first team reps in preparation for Montreal .... can anyone confirm that?

Edmonton's 7 wins: +3 BC 30-27 +4 Montreal 23-19 +2 Ottawa 23 -21 +3 Hamilton 31-28 +11 BC 37-26 +5 Hamilton 33-28 +7 Ottawa 27 -20 Impressive? I dunno Didn't we start out 7 & 1 a few seasons back and then fell apart .... all I see here is the Eskies beating up the weak sisters from the east, and getting Wally Buono's goat twice .... not exactly a tower of achievement ..... and all this on Reilly's back ... would have been a very different story if Franklin was at the controls .... With a ton of injuries, both their OL & DL in rough shape I am hoping we will dominate the trenches The only thing that slows down a greased pig is one good thump but I don't know how we can catch Reilly to daze him even slightly .... if we can get to him just once ... till then we have to work on contain Thursday Night: advantage us

how do we change a pick if we our mind on a team?

Whttp://edmontonjournal.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/danny-groulx-returns-to-edmonton-eskimos-offensive-line-following-gruelling-game-with-back-spasmsith injured Danny Groulx returns to Edmonton Eskimos offensive line following gruelling game with back spasms Almondo Sewell gone for the foreseeable future, the Edmonton Eskimos haven’t just lost an all-star on the interior of their defensive line. They’ve also lost their emergency replacement if things were to ever fall completely apart on the offensive line, requiring a defensive tackle to flip over the line of scrimmage to get them through a game. It almost happened three weeks ago against the B.C. Lions, when Danny Groulx, making his second start in place of injured left guard Simeon Rottier, began suffering back spasms midway through the second quarter. Starting centre Justin Sorensen had already left with a knee injury and was replaced by lone O-line backup David Beard, meaning if Groulx wasn’t able to continue, Sewell would have suddenly found himself protecting the pocket he’s so used to crashing.“I didn’t want that, I didn’t want to put my team in trouble,” said Groulx, a six-foot-six, 325-pound Laval product playing in his third season since being drafted in the first round (seventh overall) in 2015. “They knew what I was battling with, but at the same time, I knew what I was capable of and I knew my threshold of pain and I wanted to finish the game. “Honestly, there were some thoughts in my head that came, like: ‘You can’t anymore.’ But I just started insulting myself. I won’t tell you what I was saying, but I told myself a couple of things to stay in the game. Reader Moe Litman: Gutsy win, given the unbelievable injury situation. However, once again the Eskimos, for a 7 - 0 team, did not look impressive or powerful. That is understandable at this point given the injury situation. But that has been the case since game 1. They have found ways to win but not steam-rolled any team. And, once again, discipline - penalities - have been a significant, disturbing, problem. They will have to elevate their game to win it all. Hopefully, that will happen when either most of the injured return &/or some new blood makes its way onto the team.

MOS tonight when asked about DB Walker said ".... yeah and he is only 21 years old!"

Are you sure that is right ? ahead of Leggett and behind Heath?

anaylze it how you like but on Lankford returns we are frequently scrimmaging from around our 40 and that is the best i can remember in years

SpeedFlex you are the attacker, purposeful & deliberately nasty like an eleven year old brat

Being under attack is personal ..... no way around it

Are you spitting at yourself in a mirror?

look in a mirror

You are grumpier than an old man

You know how MOS used to be labeled as stubborn .... I think that came from a lack of not not knowing, not being sure of himself .... now that is seeming reversed and instead we are getting confidence and sophistication .... the genuine leadership we have expected all along

Now who sounds arrogant?

" as all-star defensive tackle Almondo Sewell left with an upper body injury in the third quarter before defensive end Marcus Howard was carried off the field with a leg (maybe both legs?) injury in the final minute. They were two key cogs on a well-oiled machine of a D-line that has been putting opposing quarterbacks in a pressure-cooker game in and game out. Of course, it doesn’t help any having starting defensive end Phillip Hunt already placed on the six-game injured list. “It’s been definitely devastated tonight,” Maas said of the league’s top pressure front four. “To have Mondo go down and Marcus go down, Marcus filled in great for Hunt already, so obviously we’ll have to regroup and bring guys up and bring guys up quickly. “It’s just a hard thing when you have these injuries to big players, but our mentality in the locker-room is ‘next man up.’ ” That’s how they survived decimation in both the linebacking and receiving corps, at running back, on the offensive line and in the secondary so far, and now it’s the D-line’s turn, finishing out the game with Da’Quan Bowers on the interior and drafted rookie Kwaku Boateng on the edge. If things remain that way and they’re the next up to start, the Eskimos will have a chance to change the ratio elsewhere, such as at receiver or linebacker, after having made the switch to an all-American starting defensive line this season. And why not? Especially with the way Boateng has been playing with eight tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble since being drafted in the fifth round (41st overall) out of Wilfrid Laurier, where he was the program’s all-time sack leader. The Esks had already positioned themselves in case of that very situation by bringing in a second Canadian defensive lineman with last week’s signing of Eastern Michigan product Kalonji Kashama. “We had two guys go down on the D-line. We hope we can get them back next week,” said defensive tackle Euclid Cummings, who earned a sack Thursday along with Bowers and defensive end Odell Willis. “We’ve got the next-man-up mentality. We’ve got two more dogs ready to go. “That’s what we do around here. We work hard every day and we just all feed off of each other, so when my boy (Sewell) went down, we had to pick it up that much more.” http://nationalpost.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/double-whammy-to-edmonton-eskimos-defensive-line-could-prove-devastating/wcm/68561228-cc24-4f1f-acdb-9d81b928321d

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/stegall-i-would-truly-be-surprised-to-see-ricky-ray-back-in-the-cfl-this-year~1182133 Milt Stegall calls it ... Eay out for the season http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/ray-expected-to-miss-4-6-weeks~1182118 Naylor not so sure .... if separated shoulder or day to day .... how fast does a 38 year old make it back?

One of our posters said MOS is getting more involved in the defensive scheming, intruding in a bit on the Ritchie Hall philosophy of bend, bend and bend some more , just don't break .... So far MOS has been pretty "laissez faire" hands off when it comes to his coordinators ... if this is changing I think it is a wonderful development in terms of both team morale and defensive common sense .... not to mention all the fan complaining about the coordinators may be coming to an end. Is MOS gaining in confidence and with it leadership?

The facts of life in this league is that each team has one decent QB .... if they get injured that team is toast .... unless they are an elite team .... then whoever is QB on the elite team looks good ... the great backups just have an elite team