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Eskimos' players pay for their own flights to offseason workout, but face snow

55 Yard Line
A group of Eskimos' players got together this weekend to practice at their own expense. (@EdmontonEsks.)

The weather isn't making the Edmonton Eskimos' offseason easy. Quarterback Mike Reilly and linebacker J.C. Sherritt organized voluntary workout sessions in Edmonton this weekend, with about 15 players paying their own way to attend, but snow and ice impacted some players' flights, such as Sherritt's; he was initially supposed to arrive Thursday from Seattle, but his plane turned around thanks to icing issues. Challenges continued once players got into town, and it's a good thing that they were able to do some of those workouts inside.The dump of snow that hit Edmonton this weekend led to a rather unfriendly-looking Commonwealth Stadium Sunday, as you can see from the photo Reilly tweeted:

Fortunately, the Eskimos have a nice indoor training fieldhouse at the stadium. It isn't exclusively for them, though. That led to a rather only-in-Canada situation Friday, as Chris O'Leary writes:

"It was a good workout for the players, but the ragtag feel of the day continued to show up through the players’ two-hour session. Reilly and Co. had to share the space in the fieldhouse with young soccer players who began to trickle in around 10 a.m. Eventually, a curtain came down from the ceiling, leaving both versions of football working separately from one another.

In a way, it was like watching Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have to wait their turn for the bench press."

Still, the Eskimos' players who were able to make it seem to have had a productive weekend, and Reilly told O'Leary it was well worth it despite the challenges:

“'It’s still a difficult commitment because this is done strictly on our own as players,'he said. 'We had to pay for our own flights to come up here … but that just shows the commitment of the guys who are here. They’re willing to take money out of their own pockets to make this team better. It’s good to see guys show up.' ...

“In terms of veteran players, six months is a long time to go without hearing the play calls, running the routes, catching the football full speed,” Reilly said of the Canadian Football League off-season.

“For me, for Matt (Nichols, the team’s backup QB), I think it’s a good halfway mark. We’ve been gone for 3-1/2 months and we’ve got 2-1/2 months to go until camp starts. (At this point in the off-season) guys are starting to (ramp up) their workouts, but you don’t want to leave out the mental part of it.”

It's impressive that so many Eskimos' players would take the time and money to get together in the offseason. That should be useful preparation for them, too, especially in terms of getting quarterbacks and receivers on the same page, particularly new receivers like Wallace Miles and lesser-used ones like Anthony Barrett. Here's hoping the weather didn't interfere with the Edmonton players' plans too much.