The Edmonton Elks have yet to play a game under their new moniker, but they’re already locking antlers like their namesakes. Unfortunately, it’s with each other.
It was the green and gold’s second day in full pads on Thursday and the tempo was up after a day off. That was accompanied by more than the requisite amount of physicality and several heated tussles between teammates.
“It’s hot out there. There’s some smoke in the air and tempers are starting to fly a little bit. That’s part of the game,” Elks head coach Jaime Elizondo told assembled media after practice.
It’s a part of the game that the first-year bench boss wants his group to get much better at. While he praised the intensity of his charges, Elizondo stressed that mental errors like those committed Thursday would prove costly in a game situation.
“I think today’s hopefully a learning lesson for our team. You want to take it right to the edge, but you’ve got to have emotional control of the game. Based on what happened today, we would have had four players thrown out,” he emphasized.
“Philosophically, we want to put the team first in everything that we do and we didn’t do a good job of that today in those scenarios. That’s part of the game. It’s physical, tempers flare, but we’ve got to have some emotional awareness to listen and let our play do the talking. Hopefully we can take the next step and grow in that area.”
The Elks will have to take that next step without any drop in intensity, as Saturday marks the teams first full scrimmage. Without the benefit of pre-season games, shining in the scrimmage will be crucial for young players and they’ll get plenty of opportunity with the starters sitting out.
“The first goal is to see these guys compete under pressure with a time clock and see how they react in a game situation. See who tightens up under pressure, see who performs better and makes plays,” Elizondo said.
“The second part is for the transitions, getting the punt team on, getting them off, getting the field goal defense on. Those transitions that go from the sideline are as much for the coaches as they are for anything else. Can we handle the ebb and flow of the game and make sure we’ve got the right 12 on the field?”
There will be a third element as well. While other teams have opted to eliminate full-contact competition from their entire training camp, the Elks will be going live for their scrimmage. Physicality will be expected, but so will control.
“The third goal is obviously to get some live hitting in like we’ve talked about. To get some tackling and some collisions. We’re going to take care of each other. We’re going to monitor how much we do with that, but those are really the three goals as we head into Saturday,” Elizondo noted.
His team will be encouraged to lock antlers in that setting, so long as they keep the velvet on the points for just a few more weeks.
