No playing nice for former Eskimos defender after loss
Chris Edwards’ refusal to shake hands after Friday’s game has left some in Edmonton shaking their heads.
The former Edmonton Eskimos coverage linebacker was having none of the sportsmanlike gesture of an outstretched hand belonging to opposing quarterback Trevor Harris following a 39-23 loss by the B.C. Lions.
Edwards appeared not to notice at first as the two made their way off the field at Commonwealth Stadium.
The TSN broadcast captured the pair as Harris made another effort, only to have his hand swatted away by an overly animated Edwards, who was obviously sore over the loss and chose instead to share some choice words with Harris.
“I’m not worried about it,” Harris said after Monday’s practice, where preparations began for a Week 3 game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers. “I was trying to say ‘good game’ to him. For some reason. he didn’t want to say good game. That’s fine, I don’t care.”
Harris ended up going on his merry way after Eskimos safety Money Hunter quickly stepped in between his quarterback and former teammate in an effort to diffuse things.
“Yeah, man. Chris is like my brother, so I was just trying to look out for him,” Hunter said. “I know he was emotional at losing and that’s just every athlete. Just the competitive nature that everybody has, and that time it was just what he showed.”
Edwards had developed a reputation of being a bit of a hot head over the last two years, especially with an Eskimos fan base that at one point last season was keeping tabs on his number of consecutive games with a costly penalty.
And his emotions seemed to certainly have gotten the better of him on Friday.
“I just told him there are different ways to go about it, though,” Hunter said. “But at the end of the day, he’s still my brother, I still love him. So I’m cool.
“Everybody wants to beat their old team. That’s just the passion he has for the game, and I don’t see a problem with it.”
One thing’s for sure: there was no love lost between the Eskimos and Lions when Mike Reilly made his not-so-triumphant return to Commonwealth Stadium, and there won’t be when the two teams meet again in Vancouver on July 11.
The Eskimos not only defeated Reilly last week, but they also gained a small measure of revenge against a Lions team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
Then again, 2018 is a season the Eskimos would sooner forget, having failed to make the playoffs following a four-year run of reaching at least the division final.
“We’ve moved on,” said head coach Jason Maas. “And I think, more than anything, we’re excited about this 2019 version of the Eskimos and the way these guys are playing and believing in one another, working hard for each other. It’s something special right now.”
Adding to the Lions’ 0-2 woes is the fact B.C. hasn’t won a game that’s counted since that 42-32 victory over the Eskimos on Oct. 19, 2018, to claim an all-important tiebreaker.
In and out: The Eskimos released LB Korey Jones on Monday. The seven-year veteran won the 2015 Grey Cup with Edmonton before following then-head coach Chris Jones to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, only to return to the Alberta capital in 2017. “It’s very tough. Korey’s been here with us the last three years. This was his second stint with the Eskimos and he’s an Eskimo,” said head coach Jason Maas. ... The Eskimos promoted DT Mark Mackie to the active roster, while signing Canadian veteran OL J’Michael Deane to the practice squad. … All starters on offence and defence from last week’s game were practising on Monday.