With a career-high 12 defensive tackles in the recent Labour Day Rematch game, Larry Dean reminded everyone why the Eskimos signed the star middle linebacker on the opening day of free agency.
Dean is a tackle machine.
“It’s just a testament to the defence and guys doing their job,” the modest Dean said about his outstanding performance. “When the spotlight finds you, you just have to make the play.”
While the Eskimos set out to smother Calgary’s running attack in the second game of the mid-season home-and-home series with the Stampeders on Sept. 7, they will face a different challenge at 7:30 p.m. Friday when the East Division-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats (9-3) visit the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
(Former Esks quarterback Ricky Ray will be inducted into the Eskimos’ Wall of Honour during a ceremony at halftime.)
“They do a plethora of different things,” said Dean, whose main responsibility is to shut down the opponent’s running back. “They have a variety of different weapons they can use, and they do use them, whether it’s from the running back position or the receiver position or putting a receiver at quarterback.”
Besides having a quarterback – Dane Evans, who has filled in admirably for injured veteran Jeremiah Masoli (torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee) – who can throw (802 yards over the last two games) or run (42 yards and a touchdown on four carries in their last outing), the Ticats use option plays in a lot of different ways with Canadian running backs Jackson Bennett and Anthony Coombs, maybe pitching the ball back to speedy slotback Brandon Banks, or finding unique ways to get the ball to receiver Bralon Addison.
The 6-6 Eskimos, who will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak after enjoying their second bye week of the season, sailed through their first eight games while allowing an average of only 82 rushing yards per game, but their defence hit a series of speed bumps recently while facing different offensive styles.
First, the Toronto Argonauts rushed for 139 yards in mid-August. Then the Winnipeg Blue Bombers tested the Eskimos defence with their big, strong second-year quarterback Chris Streveler, who ran for 95 yards and a TD on 14 carries, and star running back Andrew Harris (89 rushing yards and a major on 13 carries) for a total of 189 yards on the ground.
Finally, Calgary surprised the Eskimos by rushing for 201 yards on Labour Day.
“We were seeing these different types of attack,” Lolley said. “We went into Calgary and expected Bo Levi Mitchell to start (after spending two months on the injured list). We’re like, ‘OK, we don’t think he’ll be running the option a lot.’
“We were worried about the pass, and we were trying to make plays one-dimensional. We felt, in the throwing game, we could compete with these guys, get a lot of turnovers, and it didn’t happen that way. In certain situations, we were trying to get plus-one or two in coverage, and they kept running the ball with their backs, and they got us.
“We were determined when they came back (to Edmonton) if they got us it wasn’t because we hadn’t worked on it and done the proper things to try to stop it,” he added.
The Eskimos accomplished their goal with the help of Dean, limiting the Stampeders to only 29 rushing yards on 13 carries in the Rematch game.
Dean, a 31-year-old veteran who has 62 defensive tackles this season (third-most in the league), has been making plays in the CFL for four years – the previous three seasons with the Tiger-Cats (78 defensive tackles in 2016, 96 in ’17 and 106 last year) – after spending four seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings (2011-13) and Buffalo Bills (2014).
“Any time you’re blessed with an opportunity to go out there on the field, you want to put your best foot forward, and you can live with the results,” Dean said. “I’m pretty much a self-motivated, driven guy who doesn’t take anything for granted.”
He also wants to be a role model for his nieces and nephews and the youth in his hometown of Tifton, Ga., a small city with a population of 16,869 as of the last census in 2010.
“I want them to be able to use me as a pillar,” he said. “I have a foundation (Larry Dean Foundation). I have plenty of hometown kids who have aspiring dreams to be a professional athlete of some sort or just be in the field, period.
“Me coming out here every day playing a child’s game with a king’s ransom, it’s a blessing. I don’t call this a job. This is what I love to do. My gramma always told me, ‘If you do what you love to do, you’ll never work a day in your life.’ It’s nothing I take for granted. I’m definitely appreciative for the opportunity and blessed with the talent to be able to sustain (his career) and play this long.”
Dean said he didn’t have a lot of role models growing up.
“I didn’t wake up and go out my front door and see a professional athlete. I saw hustlers,” he said. “I didn’t see a lot of professional people, so to be one of the ones who made it this far is a blessing and a testament to hard work and dedication.”
Now the entire city of Tifton is behind Dean.
“They even tune in and watch CFL games,” he said. “When I come home, they ask me questions … or little kids are tuning in, and we’re showing them different avenues.”
Harris on one-game injured list
Injured quarterback Trevor Harris returned to practice in a limited role on Wednesday, but was still moved to the one-game injured list and will sit out Friday’s game.
“He made progress,” said Head Coach Jason Maas. “He at least practised and went through some (repetitions) and threw the ball.”
Harris, who pulled himself out of the Labour Day Rematch game early in the second quarter, had been “doing everything I can do to try to get ready.” He’s been dealing with an injury to his throwing arm since the Winnipeg game on Aug. 23rd.
“I’ve kind of just been getting through it,” he said. “The last game, it just got to the point where I just couldn’t do it.
“I’ve played through a lot in my life and I thought we could just keep plugging (away). It got to the point where I was going to hurt the team being out there. I couldn’t feel it (the ball) coming out of my hand.
“It was really frustrating,” Harris continued. “It was almost like debilitating just not being able to throw a football. It’s something I’ve been able to do my whole life. It’s like one of your senses is gone. I was like, ‘I can’t throw. I don’t know what to do. This is strange.’
While Harris was getting treatment and resting his arm, he also was assisting Logan Kilgore as much as possible in meetings and on the field in case the backup quarterback had to make his first CFL start since playing against the Eskimos at Toronto on Aug. 20, 2016.
Reinforcements strengthen lineup
The Eskimos will have left offensive tackle Tommie Draheim and defensive halfback Forrest Hightower back in the lineup Friday after missing three and seven games, respectively, because of injuries. Additionally, rookie Scott Hutter returns to the defensive backfield and defensive lineman Jesse Joseph was placed on the six-game injured list.
“Matt (O’Donnell) did a great job standing in (at left tackle), but we know when Matt is playing right guard, and Tommie is playing left tackle, and Colin (Kelly) is playing right tackle, and you’ve got (Jacob) Ruby and (David) Beard playing their positions, we know we’re a better O-line,” Maas said. “We’ve proven that through the course of this year. When we do get the chance to play with all five, we can do some really good things. So we’d like to get back to that lineup and go from there.”
“With a 6-6 record right now with six games left, there’s a lot that can happen,” Draheim said about the playoff scenario. “You’re aware of the whole picture, but you still have to do it one day at a time.
“We’re still in control. We control our own destiny in a lot of ways. If we go out and win games, then we’ve got our position. Just try to get on a roll, that’s what it is going into these playoffs. You want to be playing well, you want to be clicking, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Draheim said he was close to being ready to play the last game against Calgary, “but (we decided it was) better to save me for the rest of the year than risk it for one game.”
The Eskimos have also signed national defensive linemen Mathieu Betts, 24, their first-round draft pick (third overall) this year, and Stefan Charles, 31, their second-round pick (10th overall) in 2013.
Betts, who attended the Chicago Bears’ NFL training camp this summer, has already been added to the roster and will make his CFL debut on Friday.
Charles made 60 defensive tackles and five quarterback sacks in 49 NFL games over four seasons with Buffalo (37 games from 2013-15) and the Detroit Lions (12 games in 2016). He also played with the San Antonio Commanders in the ill-fated Alliance of American Football earlier this year and spent training camp with the Tennessee Titans in 2013, Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017, Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 and the Atlanta Falcons (for a week) this year.
“I was just chasing my dream at the end of the day,” Charles said. “It’s an experience I’m glad I got to experience.”
But he was also tired of waiting for another opportunity to play games.
“I just wanted to get back to playing,” he said. “I’m glad I could get out here with the guys and work and do what I love. I just hope I can be an impact player for the team and contribute what I can when I can.”
Maas called Charles “a large human” and said “he’s really quick off the ball for as big as he is” while Lolley was impressed with how fast the newcomers are picking up their defensive assignments.
“They’re ahead of where most (new players to the team) would be,” Lolley said. “They got lined up better than some of our guys who’ve been out here the whole time.”
The Eskimos added Charles and three international players (defensive lineman Jeremiah Clarke, offensive lineman Tristan Nickelson and defensive back Robert Priester) in accordance with the CFL’s practice roster expansion period while also moving international defensive back Tyquwan Glass and linebacker Jonathan Walton from the active roster to the practice roster this week.