Canadian quarterback Tre Ford brought the Edmonton Elks dangerously close to an upset of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday night, but he and head coach Chris Jones are not on the same page when it comes to the structure of the offence.
After the Elks’ squandered a 22-point second-quarter lead to lose 38-29, the second-year signal-caller critiqued his team’s offensive philosophy for playing too safe.
“I wish we were a little bit more aggressive still earlier in the first half. I know we got up by a lot and we were pretty conservative,” Ford told reporters.
“Definitely would have liked to get the ball down the field a little bit more but that’s not my call. I’m going to rock with whatever Coach says to do, he’s trying to give us the best chance to win. I just wish we could have left the foot on the pedal a little bit versus I think we were playing a little conservative, trying not to lose instead of trying to score more points.”
Asked about his quarterback’s comments following the game, Jones was dismissive of the concerns.
“We got some balls put up but again, instead of worrying about the playcalling, we need to worry about executing,” he insisted. “That’s what we need to do. Stay in our lane and do the things that we’re supposed to do, that’s what I’d like see.”
The Elks debuted a new-look offence against the Bombers, having demoted offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo to a consultant position during the bye week and benched starting quarterback Taylor Cornelius. Jarious Jackson took over play-calling duties and Ford made his first start of the year after previously serving as the team’s third-stringer.
The 2022 first-round CFL Draft pick appeared to provide his team with a spark, completing 12-of-16 passes for 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while rushing for 50 yards and a major on the ground. That earned subdued praise from his coach, despite a couple of critical errors.
“Tre did a real nice job. I mean, he was 12-of-16. In the second half, he owned the interception, he missed a read, and he missed a pull there on the last play,” Jones said, referencing the read option on third-and-two where running back Kevin Brown was stopped short to end the Elks’ final possession.
“The short-yardage play, he missed a pull, but for his first game out this year, he did some nice things. He’s certainly able to get out (of the pocket) and I would have liked to see him maybe dive for that first down (on the play before) and maybe not be in that situation. A little bit of that’s a learning curve, but again, he’s a dynamic athlete, no doubt.”
Ford agreed with those criticisms, dubbing his performance in his fourth career start to be just “okay.”
“There was definitely some positive things that happened out there but ultimately, I think the team really needed a win. It’s definitely disappointing,” he said. “I made a couple misreads and I turned the ball over. You can’t win the game if you turn the ball over, so I’ll take the blame for that, for sure.”
Despite the errors, Jones confirmed that the former Hec Crighton Trophy winner did enough to retain the starting job. His prize is the chance to turn around a 0-9 team that has now lost 22 consecutive games at home, shaking the faith of even their veteran coach.
“It is the most frustrating thing I have ever had to deal with,” Jones admitted.
“We have a good bunch of kids in there. They work hard. A lot of people around town say, well, y’all deserve (a win). No, we don’t deserve it. We don’t deserve it until we come out and play four quarters of disciplined, hard-nosed football and play four quarters of tough, physical, blocking and tackling and go take a game. That’s when we will deserve it.”
The Elks return to action on Thursday, August 17 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league's Global initiative.
