THE CANADIAN PRESS
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — With one of the most exciting weekends of CFL in recent memory, there’s no time to sit back and let the dust settle — Week 3 is already just about set to kick off with the action kicking off Thursday. We look at the latest around the league, including who’s in at QB in Winnipeg and some key notables hitting the injured list in Toronto, in the latest edition of Checking Down.
BC Lions
- According to TSN‘s Farhan Lalji, Marco Ianuzzi’s status for the weekend is in doubt after he left Tuesday’s practice with an apparent hamstring injury. It’s not as bad as initially thought but Lalji speculates he’s a longshot to play Friday.
- All eyes are on first-year CFL receiver Austin Collie after scoring his first touchdown over the weekend, especially in the U.S. where Collie was once a star receiver for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
Edmonton Eskimos
- The early-season bye week usually isn’t favourable but the Eskimos may have needed it. They had a chance last week to hit the reset button after their season-opening loss to Toronto and the injury to Mike Reilly, and now they’ll look for redemption in their home opener against the 2-0 Ottawa REDBLACKS. The Edmonton Sun‘s Con Griwkowsky has more.
- Odell Willis is taking his team’s season-opening loss as a humble check, especialyl for his defence, writes the Edmonton Journal‘s Chris O’Leary. The Eskimos gave up 137 rushing yards, 347 passing yards for a whopping 461 net yards in their season opener, numbers they’ve had to stew over for a couple of weeks now.
Calgary Stampeders
- With such high expectations after last year’s Grey Cup run, Bo Levi Mitchell isn’t quite setting the world on fire through two weeks this season. But as the Calgary Herald‘s George Johnson writes, Dave Dickenson isn’t worried about his star starting pivot.
- The Calgary Stampeders have added a prospect to their defensive line, selecting Brandon Tett in Tuesday’s Supplemental Draft. The Stamps will forfeit a seventh round pick in 2016 for the native of Vancouver, Wash. and Oregon Ducks alum.
- The Calgary Sun‘s Scott Mitchell reported on Wednesday that Jeff Fuller and Juwan Simpson practised, but Eric Rogers was sidelined. Rogers’ status for next Monday is currently unknown and the team hasn’t announced anything.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Darian Durant met with the media on Tuesday for the first time since suffering a season-ending Achilles injury to discuss the long road ahead in his recovery.
- The Riders have placed Shea Emry on the six-game injured list. Emry was injured in the Riders’ season-opening loss to Winnipeg. The team also announced this week that it has released kicker Chris Milo, as veteran Paul McCallum now takes over kicking duties for the Riders.
- It’s not an ideal start to the season in Regina, but the Riders have plenty of positives to take out of their 0-2 start. The Regina Leader-Post‘s Rob Vanstone looks at both sides, including the play of dynamic breakout receiver Ryan Smith.
- While Smith’s leaping catch was one to remember, the breakout star will not suit up this weekend vs. BC, according to Vanstone on Twitter.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- After returning to the practice field on Monday and taking first-team reps, Drew Willy looks like he’ll be the Bombers’ starting quarterback on Friday night. Head Coach Mike O’Shea said he expects Willy to both suit up and start the game.
- The Bombers own the CFL’s worst defence through two weeks, surrendering a league-high 78 points – but as the Winnipeg Free Press‘ Ed Tait writes they aren’t making any excuses.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Defensive end Adrian Tracy has been fined an undisclosed amount for his hit on Drew Willy in Week 2. CFL Commissioner Jeffrey L. Orridge and Vice-President of Officiating Glen Johnson each released a statement on the decision.
Toronto Argonauts
- With the Argos’ big victory on Sunday also came a substantial loss, as slotback Andre Durie left the game with a knee injury and will likely be out for the remainder of 2015, the team announced Tuesday. Is Anthony Coombs the next man up for the Argos.
- Another key loss for the Argos is national safety Jermaine Gabriel, expected to miss the next month with a groin injury according to TSN. Gabriel’s star is rising fast and his growing presence in the middle of the Argo secondary will be a major loss. Head Coach Scott Milanovich also provided an update on Ricky Ray.
- It was a rocky ride for Ronnie Pfeffer in his first career CFL start, but in the end the rookie kicker/punter got the job done, connecting on a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter and the eventual game-tying single from 32 yards out. The Toronto Sun‘s Frank Zicarelli breaks down Pfeffer’s first CFL action.
Ottawa REDBLACKS
- It took only two games for Ottawa to match its 2014 win total this year, but as the Ottawa Sun‘s Chris Hofley writes, the REDBLACKS aren’t going to get caught up in the early hype:
“We don’t want to sit around and pat ourselves on the back, we want to get back to work and it’s on to the next week,” head coach Rick Campbell said Monday. “We’re just getting ready to play a football game, make sure we get two good practices in, then get on the plane and get ready to play a good football team.”
- The Ottawa REDBLACKS will be without defensive lineman Justin Capicciotti for their Thursday night battle with Edmonton due to injury, the Ottawa Citizen‘s Gord Holder reports. Hugo Lopez will suit up in his place.
Montreal Alouettes
- Rakeem Cato may not have the size of a prototypical quarterback, but he has more than enough heart. The Montreal Gazette‘s Herb Zurkowsky has more on an electrifying debut by Rakeem Cato.
- Speaking of Cato, the kid became the talk of the CFL last weekend after dazzling in his first career start, completing 80 per cent of his passes and throwing three touchdown passes. How does it compare with similarly strong first career starts from Ricky Ray, Matt Dunigan, Zach Collaros and Bo Levi Mitchell?
- News out of Montreal is that Bear Woods could be on the shelf with a potentially season-ending injury, as reported by the Gazette‘s Herb Zurkowsky on Twitter. GM Jim Popp could not confirm the news, however, as the team awaits the result of an MRI. Zurkowsky also reported that Billy Parker left Tuesday’s practice limping.
