All-CFL centre David Beard active for Edmonton Elks, won’t start vs. B.C. Lions

The Edmonton Elks are getting one of their best players back in the lineup ahead of Sunday’s meeting with the B.C. Lions, but don’t expect to see him much.

Centre David Beard will return after missing the last two games of the season with a calf injury, but is listed as a backup behind Mark Korte with American rookie Mark Evans II remaining at left guard. Backup Jaxon Morkin has been returned to the practice roster.

The 32-year-old native of Sherwood Park, Alta. was originally listed on the six-game injured list before being rushed back early, which erases much of the salary cap savings of that move. It is unclear why the Elks would incur that cost if he was not going to start.

Beard was named All-CFL for the first time in his career in 2024 as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and later returned to Edmonton in free agency.  The six-foot-five, 320-pound blocker spent the first eight years of his professional career with the Elks after being selected in the second round of the 2015 CFL Draft, winning a Grey Cup as a rookie. In total, he has played 128 career regular-season CFL games.

On the other side of the ball, Canadian defensive end Robbie Smith has officially been placed on the six-game injured list with an elbow injury. He became the CFL’s highest-paid defensive player when he joined the Elks in free agency this offseason and has recorded eight defensive tackles through four games to start the year.

American Noah Taylor, who has recorded six defensive tackles and a sack this year, will get the start opposite Brandon Barlow. Canadian linebacker Josih Schakel has been activated for special teams depth and to fill out the ratio.

The Edmonton Elks (1-3) will host the B.C. Lions (2-3) at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday, July 13 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. B.C. is coming off a 21-20 walk-off win over the Montreal Alouettes, while Edmonton got its first win of the season in a 39-33 home victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.

The weather forecast calls for a high of 22 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada and on CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 730 CKNW in Vancouver and 880 CHED in Edmonton.

Graphic: Edmonton Elks