The off-season has been filled with talk about replacing receivers in the Eskimos’ offence.
Brandon Zylstra has gone to the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and Adarius Bowman was released and later signed with Winnipeg. Those two receivers are not the only two who have left from last year’s starting group. Also gone is stalwart Canadian Cory Watson who chose to sign with the B.C. Lions as a free agent after three seasons with the Eskimos
That Canadian spot right now seems to belong to Natey Adjei, who has been taking first team reps on offence. Last year’s first-round draft pick — Nate Behar — should figure into the competition as well but has yet to see the field through two days of camp.
Both Behar and Adjei had good mini-camps in April in Las Vegas and quarterback Mike Reilly noted it has been a good start to camp so far for Adjei.
“Natey and Nate, both those guys have stepped up to the plate and done a nice job so far. You can see the competition is there, the energy is there and the comfort and the familiarity, them with me and me with them.”
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With Watson leaving, Adjei came trained this off-season knowing there was a job open for him to challenge for.
“In my head, I was more excited to go train because I knew there was a spot open. With Cory gone, there is that extra push when you go to the gym. It’s like, ‘OK, you’d better be ready, there was an extra push because you know the spotlight is going to be on you.'”
Adjei was a factor on special teams last year, leading the Eskimos with 15 tackles but no receptions for him on offence after having six the year before and 11 in his two seasons with the Argos in 2014 and 2015.
The games begin soon for the Eskimos, who will be first out of the chute with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for preseason game No. 1 on Sunday at the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. It will mark the earliest-ever start to a season in CFL history.
With only six full days of practice before Saturday’s walk-through and Sunday’s game, Eskimos head coach Jason Maas says he has been more aggressive with his offensive install this week. It won’t be the traditional “vanilla package” for preseason Game 1.
“We have done the opposite, we tried to put a lot in so our guys are thinking a lot. We can taper it down for the game, but we want to get plays in. We have put in more than we would if we had another 13 days before we played our first game like it was last year.”
The Eskimos had 13 days between the start of training camp and a game last year. This year they have 13 days between the start of camp and end of the preseason.
READ MORE: Excitement builds for Edmonton Eskimos on eve of training camp
Player profile
#25 Shaq Cooper Running back 5’10 190 pounds
Born: March 24, 1993 Coconut Grove, Fla.
School: Fort Hays State
Cooper has spent time in NFL camps for the last two years but has not played a game since his final year of college. Because of that, he is hoping to get a chance to play on Sunday.
“I might cry when I first come out here for a game,” he said.
Audibles
Listen below: DB Aaron Grymes talks about a good day for the defence
Roster notes
There was one addition to the roster on Monday with the signing of international running back Jordan Robinson, who played college football at Sacramento State.
Vets not at practice on Monday included receivers Duke Williams and Nate Behar as well as DB Arjen Colquhoun.
Next up
The Eskimos will hold two practices Tuesday on the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium at 8:30 a.m. and 10:10 a.m.
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