Courtesy Edmonton Journal:

It didn’t take long for Joe McGrath to settle back into his Green and Gold silks.

The veteran offensive lineman, who returned to Edmonton in a surprising trade from Saskatchewan late Thursday afternoon, took a spot, mainly at left tackle, on Friday.

He also grabbed his old No. 63

jersey from prospect Adam Rogers and was quickly celebrating scrimmage scores, via bouncing body slams, with fellow O-lineman Calvin Armstrong in late morning sessions.

But does his return to Edmonton clear up the situation or muddy it back up?

“It always muddies things up,” said offensive line coach Jeff Bleamer, speaking strictly of the sheer numbers. “I don’t even want to say muddies it up; thank goodness I have two other coaches and we’ll be grading the films in pre-season games. We’ll get three sets of eyes on the players and a real good evaluation, because everything is so tight with competition. Nobody is really standing head and shoulders above anybody else.”

And that’s probably why McGrath is back. Nobody has grabbed the spot at left guard — vacated by Dan Comiskey’s retirement — by the throat.

“That’s the thing about football and the beauty about sports; there is no given. Trades happen, injuries happen, people come and go,” said McGrath.

“We’re all professionals. We know this is a business. At the end of the day, you line up on the hashes, compete and do your best.”

The O-line has taken a hit through injury as well with Garrick Jones, Thaddeus Coleman and Greg Wojt currently out. That’s why the versatile McGrath was at left tackle on Friday. His return also gives the Esks more Canadian depth and helps with the import-to-non-import ratio.

Two more let go

Injuries finally caught up to rookies Eric Ware and Jason Kosec as they were the latest Eskimos cuts.

Ware, a speedy receiver, had battled a hamstring since Day 1 of main camp and Kosec, a linebacker, was out with a wonky back. Neither saw the field with the veterans.

Remaining out of action on Friday along with OL Jones, Coleman and Wojt were DL Jim Davis, DE Shaun Richardson, FB Mathieu Bertrand, DB Lenny Williams, RB Eric Lee, WR Dante Luciani, DL David Miller and DB Bradley Robinson. RB Calvin McCarty nursed a sore ankle in the second session and WR Kevin Challenger also came up lame.

NO HOARSING AROUND

Voices are starting to disappear among the coaching staff. Jim Daley has been extremely animated the first six days, but has been somewhat silenced by a hoarse throat.

It doesn’t mean they are stepping off the gas pedal. Special-teams boss and assistant head coach Noel Thorpe continues to hammer away at his message.

Student of choice on Friday was University of Alberta product Greg Whelan, who is lining up as linebacker and special-teamer.

This and that …

- Jason Goss continues to shine in the secondary, at one point on Thursday breaking up a Ricky Ray pass intended for Willie Thornton.

- WR Maurice Mann got behind DB Bobby Keyes, not once, but twice to haul in Ray TD offerings. Jamaica Rector then burned Kelly Malveaux for a score and followed that up with a diving, over-the-shoulder circus number in the end zone on the very next play.

- Non-import linebacker Tim

St. Pierre has quietly gone about his business over the first week. The question with the Saint Mary’s University product is his size. He’s listed as six-feet, 235 pounds, but that may be a stretch.

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