Kaion Julien-Grant, Edmonton Elks seek consistency in showdown with Argonauts

National Post

3 days ago

Like many elite athletes, Kaion Julien-Grant's post-game self assessments begin with the negatives before even considering his positive impacts.
Article content
The Edmonton Elks receiver rates himself first by missed assignments and what he could have done better to help the team.
Article content
Article content
'The negatives always resonate more, whether you win or not,' he said as the Elks prepared to host the Toronto Arognauts on Friday. 'You feel, I could have done this or done that, but you have to appreciate what you did do.'
Article content
Article content
By those standards it's been an emotional two weeks for the Toronto native who has 21 catches for 346 yards and five touchdowns in eight games.
Article content
The 29-year-old hauled in two touchdown passes last week. The second one came with 15 seconds left to give Edmonton a badly needed 23-22 win over the Montreal Alouettes.
Article content
One week earlier, Julien-Grant dropped a sure touchdown pass that would have given the Elks the lead with about 75 seconds left in a 28-24 loss to Hamilton.
Article content
'I was super down. I felt like I had let the team down and I let myself down, knowing the calibre of player I am and it was a routine catch,' Julien-Grant said of the drop in the end zone against the Ticats.
Article content
'To bounce back and have the game on the line again … time was winding down and it came to me and I was able to finish,' he said of the Montreal catch. 'The team really needed it, so it felt great.'
Article content
The Montreal win was the third straight Elks game decided by four points of less, two of them losses. Unfortunately for Edmonton, close isn't good enough.
Article content
'It's what we've been saying all along,' Julien-Grant said. 'You can only be close for so long until you're out of contention.'
Article content
Article content
Despite their 2-6 record, the win over Montreal keeps Edmonton in the CFL West's playoff picture with Winnipeg and British Columbia having only four wins apiece.
Article content
'That's the nice thing, knowing that it is there,' quarterback Cody Fajardo said of the playoff possibility. 'But that's not our focus. We understand it, we're aware of it, but our main focus is going 1-0 and stacking back-to-back wins.
Article content
'Last time we got a win we went on a bye and then didn't come back the way we wanted to. We're excited about this one and the opportunity to stack a win.'
Article content
The positivity after the Montreal win is 'through the roof' said Fajardo, but getting a second straight victory is vital 'against a very good Toronto team.'