It appears as though the Edmonton Elks have made the decision to go back to Taylor Cornelius as the club’s starting quarterback.
The 27-year-old started the team’s first three games of the season and completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 440 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He was benched late in the club’s Week 3 loss to the Toronto Argonauts and replaced by rookie Jarret Doege, who started in a 26-7 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.
Cornelius received a vote of confidence from head coach and general manager Chris Jones after the team was shut out for the first time in 47 years in Week 2. He was pulled the following game despite having his best production of the season so far, completing 14-of-18 pass attempts for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Doege struggled against the Redblacks, completing 19-of-33 pass attempts for 223 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. The contest marked Ottawa’s first victory of the season and snapped a 13-game home losing streak that dated back to 2021.
Cornelius first joined the Elks in 2021 and has since dressed for 30 career CFL games. He has thrown for 5,003 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions and carried the ball 96 times for 701 yards and eight touchdowns.
Edmonton also appears to be making some changes along the offensive line as 2023 CFL Draft pick Phillip Grohovac is working with the first-team unit at left guard in place of David Foucault. Brett Boyko, whose signing was announced on Monday, is taking first-team reps at right tackle. Josiah St. John, who started the first four games of the season at right tackle, left last week’s game due to injury.
The Elks (0-4) are scheduled to visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-1) on Thursday, July 6 with kickoff slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The clubs met at Commonwealth Stadium in Week 1 with Saskatchewan coming out with a 17-13 win.
Editor’s note: this article contains files from 3DownNation reporter Andrew Hoskins.
