Elks sombre but ‘focused’ on next opponent in wake of Jones dismissal

The players, while sombre the day after the Edmonton Elks fired their head coach and general manager, say they’re ready to turn the page and keep moving forward under new direction.

The Elks dismissed Chris Jones on Monday, less than 24 hours after the Canadian Football League team lost their fifth straight game to start the 2024 season.

Jarious Jackson, the team’s offensive coordinator, is now the interim head coach while Geroy Simon was elevated from assistant GM to interim status as well.

Jackson said the day since Jones’s firing has been “a bit of a whirlwind” but that the Elks are zeroing on the next game: a Friday rematch with the Ottawa Redblacks, who beat them on a walk-off field-goal Sunday in a 37-34 decision at Commonwealth Stadium to leave Edmonton with a record of 0-5.

Sunday’s result was the third such loss in a row by the Elks.

“We have to focus on what we control at this time, and that’s our energy, effort, our focus and attention to detail at this point in time,” Jackson told media.

Edmonton Elks interim head coach Jarious Jackson speaks about his new role after the firing of head coach and general manager Chris Jones in Edmonton on July 15, 2024. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)Starting quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson said he felt “apologetic for the part” he played in Jones’s firing, “for any mistakes (he) may have made,” but that while the team is winless through the first five games of their 2024 schedule, it’s “the tightest 0-5 team (he’s) been a part of.”

“The locker-room is excellent. It’s excellent men, it’s excellent football players, and to keep a quiet eye and to stay focused through these losses has tested us,” Bethel-Thompson, who joined the Elks this season as a free agent, told media on Tuesday following practice.

“We’re going to rally together and we’re going to know that we have to fight,” said the 36-year-old signal-caller, who’s thrown for 1,497 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 72 per cent of his passes through five games.

“The maturity in this locker-room I’m especially proud of what we’ve built so far, and now we just got to get on the other side.”

Elks middle linebacker Nyles Morgan said the players held a meeting Tuesday in the wake of Jones’s dismissal and will “embrace the change and push forward” under Jackson.

“It’s hard. A lot of guys have a lot of love for Coach Jones and what he’s done for us,” Morgan told media.

“I know for sure he wants us to keep moving forward, keep doing the things we need to do to win the games that we know we should win.”

Sewell new defensive line coach

The Elks had more coaching news Tuesday, with Almondo Sewell assuming the role of defensive line coach on Tuesday after incumbent Nate O’Neal quit in the wake of Jones’s departure.

“Everything needs to improve. The guys are held to a very high standard,” said Sewell, a former Edmonton lineman who was part of the 2015 Edmonton team that won the Grey Cup under Jones and who finished his CFL playing career last season with a second Cup championship as a member of the Montreal Alouettes.

“They know what they need to do. They’re a really young group of guys, they listen fairly well … The respect’s in the room already with the guys. I’m going to respect them as much as they respect me.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny