[b]The Ticats injury list remains impressively and improbably long.
Among the starters who missed the third and final day of practice at McMaster on Wednesday — and therefore are extremely unlikely to play Friday — were centre Marwan Hage, defensive back Evan McCollough, safety Erik Harris, linebacker Brandon Isaac, running back Lindsey Lamar and offensive tackle Marc Dile.
Receiver Andy Fantuz did some individual drills, but no team work and won't be ready for the Eskimos. Fellow pass catcher Bakari Grant was injured at the end of Tuesday's practice and took limited reps with the first team offence Wednesday. However, Austin said afterward Grant should be ready to play. If he can't go, look for newcomer Dobson Collins to step in.
With Lamar down, looks like Onrea Jones will be the primary punt returner. Joel Figueroa, the starter at right tackle in Week 1, will be in for Dile, while Tim O'Neill takes over for Hage at centre. Look for defensive end Brandon Boudreaux and running Chevon Walker to get back into the lineup and for newly acquired linebacker Courtney Greene to see some time on special teams. [/b]
and
[b]The Ticats spent a substantial portion of Wednesday's practice at McMaster University working on their short-yardage offence after getting stuffed on third-and-one plays in back-to-back weeks — including a goal-line version in last Saturday's loss to Saskatchewan.
"We have made adjustments. It's a combination of things, personnel, approach. We'd been pretty good up until the last two games when we got shut down twice," Austin said. "One stop here and there is maybe not as big an issue, but back-to-back stops are."[/b]