Julien-Grant and his Edmonton Elks teammates seek consistency against Argos

CBC

2 days ago

Like many elite athletes, Kaion Julien-Grant's post-game self assessments begin with the negatives before even considering his positive impacts.
The Edmonton Elks receiver rates himself first by missed assignments and what he could have done better to help the team.
"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."
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.
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.
You can only be close for so long until you're out of contention. - Kaion Julien-Grant
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.
"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.
"To bounce back and have the game on the line again ... [as] 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."
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.
"It's what we've been saying all along," said Julien-Grant.
"You can only be close for so long until you're out of contention."
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.
"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.
"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."
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."
"Here's what I will say about Toronto," he added. "They are a 2-7 ball club and we are a 2-6 club, both of us don't believe we're as bad as our records show. "
While the Elks are looking for a second straight win to turn around their season, the Argos are coming off a tough loss to the Ottawa Redblacks, and eager for a win to remain in playoff contention in the East.
Fajardo figures the Argos want to get an early lead so the Elks will have a way to overcome their recent sluggish starts. Edmonton has been outscored 24-8 in the first quarter of the last two games.
"We have to find a way to start fast. Find a way to give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter," said Fajardo, who will be starting his third straight game.
"We have to take all the experience we took from the Saskatchewan game and the Hamilton game and the Montreal game, on learning how to close out games, into this one."