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Buono says he’s going to play his vets a lot.

“We have to establish B.C. Place as a tough place to come in and play and that it’s going to be a tough place to come in and win. We have to win our home games. To do anything in the West, you have to be very successful at home and it starts Friday night,” he said as the Lions broke camp in Kamloops. “Our mindset is that we’re going to go out there to win, and our veterans are going to play a lot. We also want to show the fans what kind of team we have.”

That’s not a concern for Maas on the road, especially with the game not being televised.

Veteran Eskimos players had similar responses.

“As a competitor, you want to play, but you understand the big picture,” said Sherritt. “It’s just an opportunity to evaluate the guys they brought in, the depth we need and I understand it.”

Maas is taking everybody to Winnipeg on the quick there-and-back trip on game day.

This will probably go over like a lead balloon with the Bombers. Maas has effectively devalued whatever happens in the game. If Winnipeg dominates, of course they did, they were going against Eskimos cuts and practice roster players. If the Bombers struggle or lose, then they can’t even beat Edmonton’s second stringers and rejects.

Thanks a lot, Jason Maas.

One thing that we already know about the Eskimos’ second-year head coach is that he has his beliefs and he’s going to do it his way and damn the torpedoes.

While your correspondent carved him for the way he handled the TSN mic’d up controversy last year, I endorse this move and mostly for a reason he didn’t event mention.

You only get two preseason games in this league. You need to use both to totally find out who your new “gamers” are. You already know what you’re going to get from Reilly, Bowman, White, Sherritt, Sewell, Willis, Sorensen, Rottier, O’Donnell, Figuroa, Zylstra, Hazelton, Getzlaf, Chambers, Watson, Howard, Thompson, Van and McCarty.

E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @byterryjones