Edmonton head coach Kavis Reed to handle Eskimos’ play-calling duties

EDMONTON – Edmonton Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed is adding to his responsibilities.

The Eskimos announced Sunday that Reed will assume the offensive co-ordinator’s duties from Marcus Crandell, who’ll now be the CFL club’s quarterbacks coach.

Reed will handle the play-calling duties when Edmonton hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night.

The coaching shuffle comes after Edmonton dropped a 39-15 decision to the Calgary Stampeders on Friday night.

Edmonton (5-8) has lost five straight games to fall to last in the West Division standings, four points behind the third-place Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-6).

The Eskimos entered weekend action ranked seventh in the eight-team CFL in scoring (21.5 points per game) and passing (252.5 yards) and last in total offence (315.2 yards).

Edmonton’s offence took a major hit in December when GM Eric Tillman dealt veteran quarterback Ricky Ray to the Toronto Argonauts for veteran Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and a 2012 first-round draft pick.

Ray missed Toronto’s 29-10 road win over Winnipeg on Saturday with a knee injury but has thrown for 3,371 yards for the Argos (7-6).

Jyles is Edmonton’s passing leader with 1,756 yards but neither he nor veteran backup Kerry Joseph played against Calgary as both have leg injuries.

That left Matt Nichols to make the start and he finished 14-of-26 passing for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception while also running for a TD.