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Posted (edited)

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.
Edited by BigBlue
Posted
16 hours ago, do or die said:

The nice thing is that our D line keeps looking better each week......

steady improvements are all we can ask for and I agree, I think thats been happening..  D-line, LBs and secondary..   I know people are down on Hall and his style but when the boys play it properly.. it seems pretty effective.. obviously Hamilton is a special case and all but we covered well in the back and and got a TON of pressure up front.. lets see if we can keep that up now. 

Posted

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.

Posted
57 minutes ago, Fraser said:

I appreciate an injury update  thread so I don't have to go through 20+ pages of game  day or general  threads all full of bickering  and 'analysis' and wrestling talk to find an injury  update. 

Here's a quick synopsis, anybody missing from the G.D. roster has either a lower or upper body injury and they could be gone anywhere from 1 game to 3 years.  Any specific reports varying from this are scandalous hearsay.

Posted

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.”

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.

Posted
57 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Best part is where Ray says his shoulder is sore but pain free.  Guessing he wasn't an English major.

yea I saw that and definitely chortled.. how does one have a soreness but be pain free exactly..   would be funny if a journalist asked him to explain that one lol.

Posted (edited)

I think how I would take it and from my experience you can have soreness somewhere and it doesn't really impede what your doing, just a nuisance, but having pain when doing it hinders you and doesn't allow you to be fully effective

Just like the age old saying from a coach..."are you hurt?..or injured?..if you're only  hurt then get back out there" 

Edited by Booch
Posted
38 minutes ago, Booch said:

I think how I would take it and from my experience you can have soreness somewhere and it doesn't really impede what your doing, just a nuisance, but having pain when doing it hinders you and doesn't allow you to be fully effective

Just like the age old saying from a coach..."are you hurt?..or injured?..if you're only  hurt then get back out there" 

ya I guess it becomes a question of annoyance versus pain.. I can see that.   I have a soreness in my shoulder from a car accident that flares up whenever I work it out too much.. but its not pain to the point where I stop working out or using it..   unlike say a quad strain or pull where you go to use it and it hurts sodamnmuch you  can barely walk up and down stairs lol.

Posted
1 hour ago, SPuDS said:

ya I guess it becomes a question of annoyance versus pain.. I can see that.   I have a soreness in my shoulder from a car accident that flares up whenever I work it out too much.. but its not pain to the point where I stop working out or using it..   unlike say a quad strain or pull where you go to use it and it hurts sodamnmuch you  can barely walk up and down stairs lol.

Throw some dirt on it Nancy and get back out there...

Posted
Just now, WBBFanWest said:

Throw some dirt on it Nancy and get back out there...

It hurt for like 4 days straight! I was gibbled hard.  never pulled it before and wow I will NOT neglect stretching again lol.   its worse then a hammy pull, any change in up or down angle and it feels like you've torn/strained it all over again.

Posted
11 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Best part is where Ray says his shoulder is sore but pain free.  Guessing he wasn't an English major.

Perhaps he meant he could throw pain-free but that there was some general soreness. I dunno. 

Posted
Just now, Noeller said:

Both Ian Wild (wrist) and Tristan Okpalaugo (UBI) are set to come off the 6-Game IL this week. Okpalaugo has been practicing. Wild has not.

Yeah, saw that too.  

Didn't realize that Loffler was injured.  That sucks but hopefully the O'Shea's talk about Derek Jones being a starter isn't for nothing.

Posted
18 hours ago, voodoochylde said:

Yeah, saw that too.  

Didn't realize that Loffler was injured.  That sucks but hopefully the O'Shea's talk about Derek Jones being a starter isn't for nothing.

Rewatched the Esks game last night, Loffler seemed to be favouring his shoulder after a hit late in that game. While he stayed in his right arm was visibly hanging at his side. Might just be speculation but it looked separated to me.

Posted

Boom, wrong about Loffler, he's listed on the depth chart and Conteh (backup Canadian dback) is removed from roster. Shoulder can't be that bad then, maybe an injury to it he's been dealing with for a while?

Posted
3 hours ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

Good news on Carmichael,  ****y news on Wild.  But i'd rather have a healthy wild down the stretch then rushing him early 

About time Carmichael got sat down, but losing Wild for another 6 games is a real buzzkill. 

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