EDMONTON — The mission is clear for Tre Ford: lead the Edmonton Elks to their first home win since 2019.
It’s a big ask of the Canadian quarterback, who was elevated from No. 3 on the Elks depth chart to the starter’s role by head coach and general manager Chris Jones and new offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson for Thursday’s date with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-2).
Ford takes over an offence that’s dead last in the CFL with 105 points in eight games. Jackson was elevated to the offensive co-ordinator’s role, replacing Stephen McAdoo, after the Elks were shut out for the second time this season by the B.C. Lions, dropping their record to 0-8.
It was their 21st consecutive regular-season home loss, a record in North American pro sports.
Now, they face a Blue Bombers team that put up 50 points on that same Lions defence. Bombers’ quarterbacks Zach Collaros and Dru Brown combined for 447 yards passing in that win; that’s more than the Elks had in the air over their last two games.
But the Elks would rather talk about their new beginnings.
“I like our offensive scheme going into this week,” Ford said. “I think we’re going to have some success. I feel like we’ve done really well in practice, executing the plays and moving the ball.
“I’m really excited just to be playing again. I’ve been having so much fun at practice, just running around and doing whatever I do.”
This isn’t the first time Ford has taken the reins as Edmonton’s great Canadian hope. In 2022, after the Elks lost their first three games of the season, the Niagara Falls, Ont. product was named the starter for a road date against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which is as close as it came to a homecoming for Ford.
The Elks won that game 29-25, but Ford suffered a shoulder injury in his next start, which derailed his season.
He said that he and Jackson have already developed a good rapport, and that he can veto plays he’s not comfortable running.
"He’s an experienced quarterback himself, so I think a lot of the plays he’s designing work," Ford said of Jackson. "I feel like him and me have a good relationship. I can communicate with him."
Ford’s ability to beat you with his arm, and legs, even earned the praise of Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea.
“His athleticism is second to none,” O’Shea said of Ford. “If he pulls the ball down and runs, you’d better all be getting there, because he’ll make you pay for it.”
But taking the ball out of former No. 1 quarterback Taylor Cornelius’s hands was just the first to-do item for Jackson. The Elks must get running back Kevin Brown more of the football.
Brown has just 342 yards and a touchdown on the ground near the halfway point of the season, and he’s averaging just a little more than nine carries per game. In 2022, he ran for 486 yards in just seven games, averaging 6.6 yards per carry, after joining the team as a mid-season signing.
“We need to get him the ball more, number one,” said Jones. “I think that emphasizing the run game will give him more opportunities to touch it. (Defences) have done a real nice job of forcing the pull on our zone-read plays, which takes the ball out of your tailback’s hands. We’ve got to counter that with hard runs and just hand the football off.”
So, translated from coachspeak, the Elks need to stop trying to juke and jive and just have Brown pound the ball up the middle.
“I’m probably thinking too much,” Brown said. “When I first came in, I was just a guy out here that nobody knew about. I was just running. For me, it’s probably more mental.
“You don’t want to be in a game, overthinking. Once you start overthinking, you start to play slow.”
Ford had 149 yards rushing on just 19 attempts in 2022. His ability to scramble is an X factor. It also brings the run-pass option into the playbook, as Ford can either hand to Brown, or keep the ball himself, depending on his read of the defence.
And Brown knows if he can get the ball more, he takes pressure off the young pivot.
"He can make people miss, he’s fast, he can also truck people," Ford said of Brown.
Thursday will see the return of Bombers’ receiver Kenny Lawler to Commonwealth Stadium. Lawler had a whopping 200 yards receiving in last week’s win over the Lions. The American wideout left the Bombers for Edmonton ahead of the 2022 season. But, after spending just one season in Edmonton, he’s back in Winnipeg.
"Kenny’s really good with the ball in the air," said Collaros. "Ask any defensive back, our guys included, if you have great protection like we typically have, the receiver knows where the ball is supposed to be, it’s tough for the defensive back with his back to the quarterback to locate the ball.
"Whatever you call those types of throws, I typically put a lot of faith in the receiver to come down with those."
The Elks will be boosted by the returns of defensive back Ed Gainey and veteran wide receiver Manny Areceneaux from the injured list.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
