Article content continued

And he won’t be the only slated starter left out of this week’s travel plans, much like when the Lions came to Edmonton last weekend with a 63-man contingent, compared to the 81 players the Eskimos dressed for Sunday’s game.

“We’re going to leave 20 or 30 guys behind. It’s just the way we roll here with the schedule we’re given,” Maas said. “It’s what we’ve done in the past and what we feel comfortable with.

“But the guys we’re going with, we feel good about, and ultimately, we’re going in there to win.”

Harris, for one, isn’t about to question the way things have been done by Maas, who led Edmonton’s previous quarterback to the top of the CFL’s passing-yards list in each of the three seasons he’s been the head coach of the Eskimos.

“As a competitor, you want to play,” Harris said. “But obviously, you trust the coaches and the coaches know what’s best, and I feel we’ve had two really good days of practice in terms of the Ones (first-team) have made gigantic strides in the last two days.

“I’ve been pleased with the progress we’ve made, and as long as we continue to do that, we’re going to trust in the coaches’ plans and what they’re holding for us. So our job is to go there and be leaders and do everything we can to help the guys.”

Making the grade

Any void left behind by Eskimos regulars Friday will go a long way to helping coaches evaluate some of the not-so-familiar faces among the 96 players currently in training camp. After all, there are plenty of other jobs on the 46-man active roster than those taken by the 24 starters on offence and defence.