Eskimos players celebrated the end of camp after grinding it out on the gridiron for several weeks.
The players have bonded while competing for jobs, but most enter the weekend filled with uncertainty.
Final cuts will be announced on Saturday.
“It’s reality. We’re going from 97 down to 46 and 10, so I mean, they know the numbers,” said Head Coach Jason Maas.
QB Trevor Harris will guide the Eskimos and his number two backup is a player who didn’t play at all last year: Logan Kilgore.
“He won the number two job. I’m not shy about saying that,” Maas told CTV News Edmonton.
Kilgore is back in the CFL following a brief stint with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017.
Last year, he returned to Bakersfield, Calif. to help coach his junior college team which Kilgore says was highly-beneficial.
“There’s no substitute for being in the huddle…but at the same time, seeing it from an all-encompassing perspective… When you’re coaching, you’re trying to anticipate issues.”
'It's an honour'
One of Kilgore’s first decisions when he arrived in Edmonton was choosing No. 15.
It’s a number that most Eskimo fans associate with Ricky Ray - the recently retired and future Hall of Famer who Kilgore played with in Toronto.
“Walked into the locker room and saw No. 15. Immediately pulled out my phone and texted Ricky. Kind of joked with him a little bit," Kilgore said.
I told him thanks for putting in a good word… he said ‘Of course, I’m sure they’re just letting anybody wear it now.’”
Maas had no problem with Kilgore’s decision but also knows what many fans will think.
“That’s a number that you better be the right kind of Eskimo to wear it…I know he understands and respects that number, probably more than anybody else in our locker room, just because he’s been around Ricky a lot.”
Kilgore will have to get used to seeing jerseys with his number on them in the crowd as he’s noticed in the preseason.
“You know my parents referenced all the No. 15 jerseys in the stands, of course all of them said Ray, but I’ll take it.”
