Speculation about Chris Jones’ coaching future with the winless Edmonton Elks is spinning fast.
Jones and the Elks (0-6) badly need a victory when they visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-2) on Thursday night.
Edmonton is off to the worst start in franchise history and has lost 10 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Also, the 37-29 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 13 was the team’s 20th consecutive home loss to match baseball’s St. Louis Browns (1953) for the worst such futility among the four major North American sports.
Jones is aware of the speculation. But the coach who guided Edmonton to the Grey Cup title in 2015 during his first stint as coach refuses to panic.
“There’s no magic formula,” Jones said. “We’re going to have to keep grinding, keep working and keep believing. Pull for each other, nobody can do it by themselves, regardless of what they think. The team is way more important than one individual.”
Jones decided to stick with Taylor Cornelius as the starting quarterback despite pulling him in the third quarter against Hamilton due to a major mistake. Cornelius was in the process of being sacked when he moved the ball to his left hand and threw it directly to Stavros Katsantonis of the Tiger-Cats. Katsantonis returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.
“I can’t do something like that,” Cornelius said. “Trying not to make a negative play and I obviously made it worse.”
Winnipeg will be looking to bounce back from its own issues. The Blue Bombers led by 19 points before being outscored 25-3 the rest of the way to lose 31-28 in overtime to the host Ottawa Redblacks on July 13.
“The game is out of reach if we make some plays early,” Blue Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said. “… Midway through the fourth we started running out of steam.”
Ottawa will have standout receiver Kenny Lawler on the field for the first time this season. The California native has been sidelined due to an immigration issue related to an impaired driving charge in 2021. He pleaded guilty this spring.
“It was hard to not be on the sidelines encouraging my guys, trying to uplift them when the game isn’t going in our favor and then being able to celebrate the wins,” Lawler said. “That was the hardest part.”
Lawler led the CFL with 1,014 receiving yards in 2021.
Two-time reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player Zach Collaros of the Blue Bombers leads the league in passing yardage (1,615) and touchdown passes (11).
–Field Level Media