Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
EDMONTON — Off to their best start in 31 years, last week, the 5-0 Edmonton Eskimos travelled to Winnipeg for a matchup with the 4-1 Eastern Division leading Blue Bombers for Friday Night Football.
The Esks brought in their number one offence led by the CFL’s top passer in Ricky Ray and perhaps the best receiver in all of the Canadian Football League, Fred Stamps. Edmonton would go on to lose 28-16 to the Blue Bombers, but the most severe loss for the Green and Gold happened after the game.
Stamps was sent to a Winnipeg hospital and underwent emergency abdominal surgery. The surgery was successful, but now the Eskimos will have to be without their number one playmaker for the next four to six weeks.
“Yeah it’s tough,” said Ray. “He’s one of our best players on offence, he makes a lot of plays for us. It’s definitely going to hurt not having him, but we just have to find a way to overcome it and find a way to get it done.”
Stamps was hurt on Edmonton’s very first offensive play of the game. While running a pattern in the middle of the field, a Winnipeg defender appeared to accidently kick Stamps in a well, let’s just say a sensitive area.
Stamps left the field but returned to finish the game despite being in considerable discomfort. He caught only three passes for 41 yards which included a spectacular 27-yard catch in triple coverage, which he was seeing for much of the night.
Stamps is now back in Edmonton where he’ll be re-evaluated. Head coach Kavis Reed is hoping Stamps will be back closer to four weeks.
The injury adds to a growing list of key player on the shelf for the Esks. Slotback Adarius Bowman and defensive end Greg Peach are out, likely until Labour Day, while starting middle linebacker Rod Davis and wide receiver Andrew Nowacki have been dealing with nagging hamstring injuries.
Slotback Jason Barnes is all too familiar with what Fred Stamps endured last Friday. Barnes ruptured his spleen and bruised his kidney and lung during an early October game in Hamilton.
“It’s always scary when somebody has to go the hospital, I can relate. It was good to see him back and walking around and that everything’s good.”
You would think Stamps’ injury would cause a shift in the type of offence the Eskimos can now run, but offensive coordinator Marcus Crandell says the game plan won’t change just because their best receiver isn’t available.
“The plan doesn’t change at all. The beauty of this offence is that coverage dictates who gets the ball”, explained Crandell. “With Ricky, he’s been very good at going through his reads and going through his progressions, going through his pre-snaps and then deciding who to go through.”
When Bowman went down, there was still Stamps. Now with Stamps out, the spotlight will shift to Barnes. He’ll have to deal with all of the bracket coverage, double-teams, you name it.
Which receiver will step up as a secondary option? There’s no doubt that Barnes is capable of getting the job done but that was in a secondary role. He scored twice in Regina in Week One and collected over 100 yards receiving.
He was the top receiver in Winnipeg last Friday with 125 yards and a touchdown. Barnes is preparing for more attention from opposing defences. Ray says he and the offence need production from other sources.
“If Fred is the only guy that’s getting those big games, defences are going to try and shut him down,” he said..
“The more times we can throw the ball to other areas and get other guys involved and let them have big games. It makes us tougher to defend because they just can’t focus on one guy.”
The Eskimos will need production now from the likes of Marcus Henry and Chris Bauman. They’ll need to get their run game charged up and get it back to the level of the first three weeks.
The harsh reality of a football season is injuries and it doesn’t play favourites.
NOTES: With the Eskimos lacking depth in their return game and in the receiving corps, general manager Eric Tillman signed veteran Jason Armstead on Monday. He played three games for the Eskimos last season combining for 288 return yards and scored one touchdown.
Expect him to play Thursday in Montreal against the Alouettes. Middle linebacker Rod Davis and wide receiver Andrew Nowacki are expected to play. Davis has been out since Week 2, Nowacki has missed the last three games.
