Dunk: Moon says rest should help Esks

Lengthy layoffs can be a double-edged sword in professional sports. Rest can help athletes feel refreshed, but time off can interrupt rhythm.

Out in Edmonton the Eskies had a bye to end the regular season and the team earned another week off by winning the West Division. That means the 2015 Eskimos will have gone 21 days between game action when they take the field against Calgary in the Western Final. Only one team in Canadian Football League history had more time between its regular season finale and first playoff game: The 1981 Grey Cup Champion Edmonton Eskimos.

Canadian Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon was a quarterback on that team and he believed the 22 days off from the end of the regular season to the Western Final were beneficial for the Green and Gold.

“It helped a team like ours because we were a little bit older of football team, so it gave our guys some rest and got guys healed up,” Moon says.

Head Coach Hugh Campbell talks with Warren Moon during the ’82 Grey Cup against the Toronto Argonauts.

Edmonton was accustomed to having time off back in those days, as 1981 was the fifth straight year the Eskimos won the West Division regular season title and the bye that came with it.

“You definitely wanted that week off, I don’t think there is a team around the league that wouldn’t want that week off,” Moon says. “After you’ve gone through a long stretch of the season, you’re banged up at the end of the year and you need that time off to get yourself fresh and ready to play again in those last two ball games — if you’re fortunate enough to win your Western or Eastern Final and then get to the Grey Cup.”

“We were always used to having a week off, but not used to having two weeks off. It is a long wait and it can get you out of your rhythm, but I think Coach [Hugh] Campbell did a great job the way he handled it.”

Hugh Campbell gave his players at least five days off to get away from football altogether to begin that 22-day stretch in 1981. When the Eskimos returned to practice, Campbell ensured they were highly competitive to keep his team sharp. The sessions were not quite to the point of being like a game, but they were more aggressive than any other practices Edmonton held all year. Moon believes the intense practices ensured that the Eskimos did not lose any of the timing or rhythm the team had built throughout a 14-1-1 regular season.

“Football players and most athletes are creatures of habit and they’re used to a routine, they’re used to playing at the same time each and every week, they’re used to the week’s practice routine being the same and when you get off of that routine sometimes it can mess with the way you can play the game,” Moon explains.

“That’s something that’s the concern of all coaches. Every coach has their different way of trying to do it and how to handle it. And Coach Campbell handled it the way that he thought was best and it ended up working out because we ended up winning another championship that year.”

In 1981 the Eskimos beat BC 22-16 in the Western Final and Edmonton went on to earn a victory in the 69th Grey Cup 26-23 against Ottawa. That’s a similar path the 2015 Eskimos are looking to follow while using the down time to rest, recover and refresh for a championship run. Just like the 1981 team, this year’s Eskimos group won 14 games in the regular season and will host the Western Final at Commonwealth Stadium after a 21-day span between games.

Current Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly feels that the break can be beneficial, especially when you consider Edmonton played 17 consecutive games to finish off the regular season schedule. That’s a long stretch that drains players physically and mentally.

“For our team, because we have quite a few veteran players and with the type of coaching staff that we have in terms of how intense our practices are, it was an ideal scenario for us,” Reilly says.

Head Coach Chris Jones gave the Eskimos 10 days off from team activities which allowed players who might not have seen their families, wives and kids since May to go home and spend time with loved ones. Upon returning to Edmonton there was a renewed sense of energy and excitement around the team.

“It was a good break for us – something that we needed,” the veteran quarterback adds.

That said, No. 13 is not at all concerned about a lack of focus due to the extended time off.

“I don’t think there is any concern on our part in terms of guys not being ready to go,” Reilly says. “But in terms of any kind of physical rust or getting timing back, I think our practices are so competitive — how we keep score, how they’re up-tempo, first-team offence against first-team defence — we pretty much simulate game speed every single day.

“I don’t think there was a lot of rust that accumulated during our time away from football.”

Reilly and the 2015 Eskimos are looking to make history repeat itself and use the extra rest as a springboard to a Grey Cup championship like Moon and Edmonton did back in 1981.