Cody Fajardo didn’t have much time to operate on Friday night in Regina, but the quarterback knows the clock is ticking even faster on the Edmonton Elks’ 2025 season.
“Hopefully, if we can take one thing out of this game, it’s that we can hang with any team in this league. But we’ve got to find ways to win games, because we’re a little bit in desperation mode,” the 33-year-old told reporters following his 21-18 loss to Saskatchewan.
“We’re still learning, but we’re running out of time to learn. We’ve got to find ways to win football games.”
Fajardo, who was making his first start in an Elks uniform following a mid-season quarterback change, completed 26-of-33 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Much of that production came in the fourth quarter, as Edmonton scored 14 unanswered points to make the contest interesting late.
Unfortunately, the Green and Gold couldn’t close the gap entirely, falling to 1-5 on the season. In large part, that was due to the eight sacks surrendered by the team, including on back-to-back plays to end the game. While the post-game furor has largely been directed at the offensive line for those protection issues, Fajardo insisted they weren’t to blame.
“Our offensive line played absolutely amazing tonight. There’s a couple of plays that were on me; some RPO stuff where I pulled the ball and it’s a run or pass option, but I held on to the ball too long,” he said. “A lot of those sacks are on me. I’m going to take that and I’m going to be better for those guys.”
Head coach Mark Kilam was more muted in his assessment of the protection, opting not to point the finger but indicating that he felt the offensive line could have done better.
“I’ve got to see the film. In that third quarter, I didn’t feel like we were protecting very well at all,” he said post-game. “I’m not sure we even had a first down in the third quarter, maybe we had one, but we’ve got to be better as a football team. It starts with cleaning up that bad football.”
Fajardo praised the Riders’ defensive line as one of the best in the CFL, but emphasized that much of the bad football on display was his own. He referenced one of the three third-quarter sacks by the Elks as a perfect example of why he was at fault.
“We had the ball around midfield, and we went two-and-out; that crushed us. That was another one like I talked about, one of those sacks where it was a run-pass option, I pulled it, I tried to pull up and make a throw, and their defensive ends are athletic and made a good play,” he explained. “If I hand the ball off there, who knows what happens? It was just a terrible read by me, and I’ve got to be better for this team.”
Notably, the Elks only handed the ball off five times on Saturday for a total of five yards. Fajardo himself was the team’s leading rusher, scrambling four times for 20 yards.
Edmonton decided to switch to the veteran signal caller late in the week, sending mobile Canadian QB Tre Ford to the bench. That decision had been heavily speculated about throughout the team’s bye, but the Elks elected to split reps between the two passers in practice for several days before deciding.
While Fajardo didn’t comment on the amount of practice time he was given, he did indicate that a lack of familiarity with his teammates contributed to some of the mistakes.
“I think the offensive line doesn’t really know how I play as a quarterback as well, and a lot of things we were talking mid-game about how I drop and how deep I drop on certain plays. It’s just different when you have two different quarterbacks,” he remarked.
“I think we’re going to work some of those kinks out and help each other, and just get more confident with the way certain guys run routes. But I’ve been in this league too long to make that as an excuse. We should have found a way to at least tie that game late.”
While Fajardo was in jeopardy for most of the game in Saskatchewan, his starting job won’t be. Kilam stated in no uncertain terms that the Nevada product would remain under centre, though he declined to comment before reviewing the film on whether the quarterback change had provided the spark he desired.
“Cody’s the starter moving forward,” he said. “I think his stat line was decent, but, bottom line, the only stat that really matters is wins and losses.”
On that point, quarterback and coach are in perfect alignment. Fajard remarked that the Elks locker room remains united and in surprisingly good spirits, but that only victories will assuage their current frustrations.
“Obviously, as a competitor, you’re pissed off, and we’re all pissed off. We want to win that game, but it’s hard to take moral victories in professional sports, because it’s such an outcome-driven league,” he acknowledged. “You look at the scoreboard, you see if you win or lose; stats don’t mean anything to me. It’s winning or losing.”
“I want to make the playoffs, I want to win a Grey Cup, and the only way you can do that is by winning football games. The sense of urgency is high, but the confidence is also high.”
The Edmonton Elks (1-5) will return to action on Saturday, August 2, when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
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.
