Their faint playoff hopes were kept alive last week, through no fault of their own, but the Edmonton Elks saw the season come to an end for one of their members.
The team’s top receiver, Kenny Lawler, underwent season-ending shoulder surgery Monday after coming down hard while making a leaping 33-yard catch in a 25-18 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on the weekend.
It was his second of two catches he made since returning to the lineup after missing the three previous games with a high-ankle sprain.
“He’s out for the year,” Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones said following Tuesday’s on-field session, which kicked off the week of practice ahead of their upcoming game on the road against the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Bombers are 13.5-point favourites Saturday (5 p.m. TSN, ESPN+, 630 CHED), according to wclc.com.
“I feel for Kenny because he busted his butt in order to get an opportunity to come back and finish the year,” Jones said. “A lot of people would not have done that in the same situation, coming off of a high ankle after three weeks or so. And then, to make a diving catch, I just appreciate Kenny’s efforts, as a lot of our guys’ efforts.
“I mean, those guys that are on the six-game (injured list), they’re in there working, trying to get back to help our football team.”
The 28-year-old California product makes his exit sitting eighth among league leaders with 894 yards and five touchdowns on 58 receptions over the course of 12 games since the Elks made the coveted free agent the highest-paid non-quarterback this year with a salary of $300,000.
Jones gave no indication Tuesday whether or not there will be further contract talks to keep the six-foot-three, 197-pound slotback in green and gold next season.
“We’re trying to win a football game,” said Jones. “I mean, contract talks, streaks and all that stuff. If we harp on negatives and look at negatives and things that are so far down the road, you can’t concentrate on what you need to concentrate on, and that’s a very good Winnipeg team.”
Veteran receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux was back practising with the team Tuesday, but isn’t scheduled to come off of the six-game IL until next week. He was working with the second-team offence, while newcomer Lucky Jackson was filling in with the first-team.
The six-foot, 191-pound rookie out of Western Kentucky was signed to the Elks practice roster on Sept. 13.
But Lawler obviously leaves some large cleats to fill.
“It’s just … man, I don’t even know what to say,” quarterback Taylor Cornelius said of the loss of his favourite target. “It’s heartbreaking for that guy because you know how much he loves the game and it gets taken away from him twice now.
“But I talked to him after his surgery, his spirits are high. He’s good, he’ll be ready to go post-(recovery) and stuff like that, he’s in here every day getting treatment. But it’s just unfortunate to lose a player like that, a friend and a competitor on the field.”
STILL A CHANCE?
As unfortunate as it is to lose a player of Lawler’s calibre, it’s a reminder to the rest of the locker-room that there is a moral to the story of their season.
Sure, they aren’t anywhere near where they’d like to be in the standings, likely to finish last in the West Division for a second-consecutive year, and the third time in the past four seasons.
But those who remain upright on their own two feet still have a chance to play another day, regardless of the odds.
“Yeah, that’s what you love about this game,” Cornelius said. “There’s no time to really think about last week anymore, we’re focused on Winnipeg and we’ve got to go out there and put something together.”
If they don’t, they can officially kiss their post-season aspirations goodbye. But even if they win, their fate could already be decided Friday night with a win by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Not that the Elks are laying their efforts on the what-ifs involved at this point.
“You can sit there and say if Sask. loses out, we win out, and then Hamilton can beat Sask.,” shrugged Jones, whose playoff hopes have been dangling on a possible crossover to the East Division bracket. “There’s so many ands and ifs or buts, I mean, the best thing we can do is just concentrate on what we can do and just win games.
“And all that other stuff? We put ourselves in this situation, so now it’s contingent on what somebody else does. We’ve got to just handle what we handle and that’s win football games.”
THREE STARS
Alouettes linebacker Tyrice Beverette was named one of the Canadian Football League’s three top performers of the week.
He was a one-man wrecking crew with five tackles, a pass knockdown and a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to seal the win over Edmonton.
And if that’s not bad enough, the Elks will face the other two stars this week.
Bombers quarterback Zack Collaros had 14 completions for 296 yards (21.1 yards per completion), four touchdowns and a 151.4 pass-efficiency rating in a 31-13 win over Saskatchewan on Friday that gave Edmonton a chance to gain ground in the playoff race.
Rounding out the list is Bombers receiver Nic Demski, who had five catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
In and out: CB Ed Gainey (ankle) did not practise Tuesday, along with OL Cole Nelson (illness). WR Kai Locksley (shoulder) was back to full participation.
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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