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“We’ve got a great picture, actually. I have it on my phone’s lock screen, it’s awesome,” Benevides said, laughing at the suggestion that running such interference evolved into one of his official duties, during a one-on-one interview with Postmedia heading into their final game of the season — after they had already been eliminated from playoff contention, it should be noted.

To his credit, and perhaps Benevides’ own as well, Maas was much less animated over the last half of the 2018 season.

“The best thing about coach Maas as a human being is he’s absolutely honest and frank,” Benevides said.” If he wasn’t himself, people would criticize him for not being genuine. So people are always going to say s__t about people and find the negatives, but he’s extremely genuine, he’s extremely intelligent, he finds ways to get things done.

“It’s like I said last year, nobody had won more games than coach Maas. So when you look at it, our job is to win championships, but you look at it last year, him and (Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave) Dickenson were the two coaches who had won two playoff games. So he has done a tremendous amount.

“Things happen for a reason, we learn from it, and certainly, I’m just privileged to be around him and help him in any way I can.”

Maas will have one less wingman going forward, but Benevides said he had already begun to see a more independent side of Maas, especially after the head coach took it upon himself to shoulder the blame for penalties that had plagued the Eskimos over the first part of the season before making a complete 180-degree turn.