Edmonton Elks hoping for 1st home-opening win in 4 years
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said: "don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."
A catchy sound bite that's easier said than done, but that's what the Edmonton Elks are hoping to achieve this week in preparation for their CFL home opener Thursday against the Montreal Alouettes.
The Elks are eager to erase the memories of their horrendous starts the last three seasons (0-5, 0-8, 0-7) and looking to rebound from their season-opening 31-14 road loss to the B.C. Lions.
Winning their home opener for the first time in four seasons is the No. 1 priority, said centre David Beard.
"We're trying to block out all the rest of the noise," he said after another upbeat practice. "We, as players, have to reduce it down to simply winning the next game.
"As much as we understand and recognize the importance of winning, and we want to get off to a hot start, we have to reduce it down to just winning the next football game. So we're trying to block out the extra noise, the pressure and just trying to do our job the best we can."
The Elks started well in B.C., but a second-half collapse sent them back into the film and meeting rooms to make substantial changes.
"In all three phases there are things we needed to clean up," said head coach Mark Kilam. "Offensively we have to stay on the field, we have to sustain some drives, we've got to be more productive on first downs. Game 1 shows you what you need to get better at."
One of those things is to reduce costly penalties, an issue that has plagued the team for several seasons.
"We didn't have a ton of penalties, we had operational penalties that are killing our momentum on offence," said Kilam. "Those are all preventable penalties, stuff we need to cut out."
The Elks have had 12 days to make whatever changes they deemed necessary, the one advantage of having a bye week after just one game played.
"We had the bye week, a chance to reset," said running back Justin Rankin, held to just 24 yards in seven carries against the Lions.
"I think everybody's coming back hungry. We want to put on a show for the fans so we're excited to get out there and get after it."
Rankin said there have been a lot of changes made in preparation for Thursday's game and one of the keys is getting the running game back to what it was last season when the team led the league in rushing yards.
"It's super important," he said. "We're a physical team, that's kind of our motto, what we want to be. That starts with the running game. We'll get that together. One week doesn't define who we are."
Success for the running game starts with the offensive line and its ability to open holes, something they weren't overly successful at against the Lions.
"We were not happy with that result," said Beard. "First and foremost, for our group, we want to make the run game better. I feel like we've identified a lot of issues.
"We've corrected them in the meeting room, we've brought them onto the field, made the corrections. Now it's a matter of making sure we execute on game day."
On the injury front, two of the three players hurt in the season opener — offensive lineman Brett Boyko (hamstring) and wide receiver Arkell Smith (head) — are questionable for Thursday.
Left tackle Martez Ivey (hamstring) is ready to play.
The Alouettes enter the game at 2-0, including a 39-18 road win at Ottawa last week. They won both their meetings with Edmonton in 2024, including a 23-20 win at Commonwealth Stadium in Week 2.
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