The Edmonton Eskimos secondary has allowed the most passing yards in the CFL. They are about to face one of the most exciting and hottest receivers in the league right now, Duron Carter of the Montreal Alouettes. The receiver is looking to improve on his play and that of his team after their 38-18 loss to the B.C. Lions last week.
Duron Carter Ready for Eskimos Secondary
Plenty of Passing Yards Given Up
Edmonton, the defending Grey Cup champions, have surprisingly allowed the most passing yards in the league, at 2,195 yards. Even with players like Patrick Watkins, Cord Parks, Kenny Ladler and Neil King in the secondary and J.C. Sherritt and Deon Lacey in the linebacker group, the Eskimos secondary, and defence as a whole, has just not been able to click this season.
They have the 8th ranked defence, allowed 31.2 points per game, including an average of 413.2 yards against in six games. The one positive is that out of the 17 touchdowns scored against them, only two have come from the ground, and their run defence remains one of the best in the league. However, Carter does not want to focus on the weak Eskimos secondary, and rather on the Alouettes offence.
“We just have to execute. Being inconsistent is our downfall this year, everybody sees that we can put up points at times, or be very stagnant. Going out and executing on offence is crucial,” he said following practice Monday.
Head coach Jim Popp also maintains the same philosophy heading into Thursday’s game. The Alouettes need to worry about themselves, and not about their opponents.
“We need to score points, and we win need to win, whether we run it 50 times or pass it 50 times.”
Carter has put up 124, 115 and 115 yards in the past three games, and after a slow start to the season, Carter is slowly becoming one of the most lethal receivers in the league. He still finds he has a lot of room to improve.
“I’m not even having good games, I could go out and get some more,” Carter said.
Can he explode even more against the Eskimos secondary? All eyes will be on him Thursday.
Practice Cut Short Due to Gas Leak
Fifty minutes into practice, the Alouettes were told to leave Stade Hebert by the fire department due to a gas leak in the adjacent parking lot. The team continued with a walk-through at Olympic Stadium, but in a week following a loss, Popp and the Alouettes need as much practice time as possible.
“When you can’t take reps on the field, it’s very different than a walk-through,” said Popp.
Luckily for the Alouettes, they scheduled themselves three practices ahead of the game in Edmonton, after practising yesterday and have one more practice to go on Tuesday.
Kicking Plans to be Determined
The Boris Bede kicking saga continued right through Monday, four days after Popp admitted to making plans for a new kicker in Montreal. Multiple kickers were at practice ready to try-out, but the team had to leave before any were able to get kicks in. Popp says the team is trying to find another field to work out the kickers.
During practice, the kickers were sitting on a bench and Bede went out to meet them. His job on the team is not threatened, as only his duties as a kicker are in the balance.
“We’re going to continue working with Bede whether he kicks for us or not this week. We’re not getting rid of him,” Popp told the media.
With one more practice to go before departing for Edmonton, fans can expect an announcement regarding the kicking situation soon.
“The plan is if we’re going to make a switch, then that kicker will be at practice [Tuesday],” Popp added.
In moments like this, teams and fans begin to realize how important kickers are to a team.
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