Jason Maas doesn’t care what the Stamps think about the Esks sitting Trevor Harris

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Edmonton head coach Jason Maas cares not for what his rivals down Alberta provincial highway No. 2 think about his decision to rest Trevor Harris in the final week of the regular season.

Calgary needs a loss by the Saskatchewan Roughriders while the Stamps must beat the Lions in order to finish first in the West Division standings.

“I could care less what Calgary thinks. It’s the same way we are, we’re in the boat we’re in because we didn’t win enough games and now we’re just not afforded the opportunity to fight for first or second or third,” Maas said.

If they would’ve won more games they wouldn’t be fighting for first right now, they’d be in first. So it comes down to you can control what you can control. They can’t control what we do, they only can control what they do. We’re going in there with what’s best for our team and what’s best for our organization.”

That’s leaving franchise quarterback Trevor Harris on the sidelines in Saskatchewan. Harris went down in Week 13 after suffering an injured forearm against Calgary. The 33-year-old returned to the lineup in Week 20 passing for 321 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions while completing 27-of-37 passes in a loss to the Riders.

“Getting Trevor completely healthy for the playoffs is what’s best for our organization. We saw what we needed to see out of him, let him play a game, he’s still not 100 percent, we know that,” Maas said.

“We just want him to get even better and the only way he’s going to accomplish that is by a week of rest, still practicing but not with the ability to go out and injure himself in a game. That’s what we’ve chosen to do and no one can say anything about it.”

The Eskimos are 8-9 and locked into the crossover spot and already know they’ll play Montreal in the Eastern Semi-Final. Logan Kilgore was the starter at QB for two of those wins. He’s thrown for 1,111 yards with four touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing 18 times for 60 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’ve won with Logan as our backup and if anyone thinks that we’re just staring Logan so we can go into there and bow down, they’re mistaken — heavily mistaken,” Maas said.

“Watch how we play. That’ll be the moniker, how we go out there and finish the season. That’s what’s expected of our guys: finish it strong.”