Updates on injuries to Norwood, Lawrence, Sinkfield
First and foremost, Coach Austin addressed the Ticats injury situation following Sunday’s East Semi-Final win in which Eric Norwood and Terrell Sinkfield Jr. each left the game, while Simoni Lawrence was sidelined on-and-off throughout.
Norwood’s injury, while suspected to be season-ending and serious, has not yet been confirmed. The Ticats defensive end and the coaching staff await confirmation on the official injury; however, it “doesn’t look good” according to Austin.
Lawrence and Sinkfield missed practice on Wednesday with what the coach called a maintenance day, the team is hopeful that both will be able to practice later in the week and play in Ottawa.
Redblacks defensive line dangerous, but Masoli remains confident in offensive line:
In the final two contests of the regular season the Redblacks defensive line wreaked havoc in the Ticats backfield, bringing down Hamilton quarterbacks on 10 occasions.
When asked what makes the Ottawa defensive line so difficult to contain, Coach Austin attributed it to their ability to work together as a unit.
“They play really hard, they play well together and as a unit,” explained Austin. “They’re able to slip blocks and continue to press the pocket and they sit on receivers at times, which helps them force the quarterback to hold the ball a little bit longer.”
Despite the difficult time that the Black and Gold offensive line previously had against the Redblacks, quarterback Jeremiah Masoli spoke to the confidence he has in his blockers.
“We have complete faith in our O-line and I know that they’re going to give us enough time and do their job,” said Masoli.
How to slow down Hank
Henry Burris was far and away the league’s statistical passing leader this season, racking up 481 completions for 5,693 yards and 26 touchdown passes. Burris was nearly unstoppable all season, but the Ticats found a way to slow him down in the first of two meetings to close out the campaign.
The Ticats defence held Hank to just 187 yards in the first of back-to-back showdowns between the two teams, containing the veteran quarterback for just a 50% completion percentage and no passing scores in the game. The defence held the Redblacks offence to just 12 points, well below their season average, and nearly won the game on a called-back pick six.
The second meeting between the two teams was a different story, with Hank racking up nearly 400 passing yards while finding the end zone six times in the game. When questioning which Burris will show up in Ottawa on Sunday, the answer likely lies in his season-long statistics as opposed to the one-game blunder in Hamilton.
The Ticats have been tough on opposing quarterbacks all season long, holding opponents to the lowest passer rating in the league; however, they will have to come with their best if they hope to contain Burris and his seemingly innumerable weapons.
Coach Austin spoke Wednesday on the success that Burris experienced in the second match-up and what the Ticats must do if they hope to stamp out that success on Sunday.
“Just like we try to stay out of second-and-long on offence, we need to get them into second-and-long,” explained Austin. “We have to make sure that we stop the run game and that we collapse the pocket and crowd him [Burris].”
