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As a defensive-minded coach, Chris Jones is always after a big turnover.
This season, the phrase “big turnover” applies to his CFL team’s roster.
Jones’ Edmonton Elks will have 15 different starters from the lineup that faced the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the teams’ first meeting of 2022, a 26-16 Riders win on June 18.
The Elks also have six new starters from their game last week against the B.C. Lions, but have only two new players on their roster. So far this season, Edmonton has had a league-high 79 players appear in at least one game.
“Chris Jones is a very good football coach, but what he really loves and what he’s really good at is personnel,” said Riders head coach Craig Dickenson, who was Jones’ special-teams co-ordinator in Edmonton and then in Saskatchewan.
“That’s what I think he enjoys more than anything — finding players, scouting players and then bringing them in and tweaking the roster.
“Anytime you’re playing a Coach Jones team, it’s going to be extremely talented (and) very athletic and you’re going to see a lot of different faces in there because he is constantly moving guys in and out, which can be very good in a lot of ways and sometimes it doesn’t work either. If you look at his track record, it works more often than it doesn’t.”
One of the big changes for the Elks from their last meeting with the Riders is at the quarterback position. Nick Arbuckle was the starter for the Elks in that game, throwing for 315 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Since then, Arbuckle has been traded to the Ottawa Redblacks and an injury to Tre Ford has put Taylor Cornelius back into the starting spot. Cornelius started eight games for the Elks last season, throwing for 1,795 yards, with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
In four games this season, Cornelius has thrown for 683 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Despite not playing against Cornelius last year due to an injury, Mike Edem has a lot of respect for the Edmonton pivot.
“I got to study him a little bit and I think he has one of the best arms in the CFL strength-wise. He’s great out of the pocket, he makes great decisions out of the pocket and he knows when coverage predicts for him to run and he takes off,” Edem said.
“He’s sneakily athletic so if you don’t think he can get out and gain yards, he’s going to make you pay.”
While the Riders enjoyed a bye week last week, the Elks are coming off a 46-14 loss to the Lions.
“Jones is a hard worker and his guys are going to work hard. With their loss last week, you know they went out in practice and gave it their all,” Edem said.
The Riders (4-4) and Elks (2-6) are both trying to right the ship for their respective seasons and keep pace in the West Division.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 9-1 after losing 20-17 to the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday. The 6-1 Lions are to meet the 5-2 Calgary Stampeders on Saturday before the Riders face the Elks.
“We’re in Week 9 now so you have to start stacking wins. We feel it’s an important game,” Dickenson said. “If we can beat them, we put a little breathing distance between us and Edmonton and if they beat us, they’re right in the middle of it and they are in the mix.”
