Jonathan Anderson
Stampeders.com

Thanks to a firsthand live scouting report on the Edmonton Eskimos, Brandon McDonald was ahead of the game before Thursday’s contest in Edmonton started.

The 28-year-old defensive back had been a member of the BC Lions during the Canadian Football League pre-season and paid an early-summer visit to Commonwealth Stadium. 

“I kind of knew their personnel and wideouts, who their go-to guys were,” McDonald said. “I had fun out there (Thursday). It was good to be back on the field. I didn’t get a whole lot of action but at the same time, I got a chance to play and had some good film out there.”

McDonald’s resume may be short on CFL experience and game tape but, with 80 National Football League games under his belt, the five-foot-11, 185-pounder is hardly a gridiron rookie.

A 2007 fifth-round (140th overall) selection of the Cleveland Browns, McDonald has spent time on the rosters of the Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers until 2012.

Signed by the Stampeders on July 16, the Collins, Miss., native had a quick turnaround to prepare for Thursday’s game where he filled in for injured cornerback Buddy Jackson.

“At the end of the day, football is football,” McDonald was saying following the Stampeders 26-22 victory over the Eskimos. “The field is obviously a lot wider, the waggle, those are pretty much the only differences. There are things I need to work on — I’m learning.

“But at the end of the day we got the win, that’s the most important thing.”

McDonald recorded one tackle in his CFL debut and felt confident in his man-to-man coverage. He plans to be more aggressive moving forward as his comfort level with the Stampeders defence increases.

“There is a few of those balls I definitely could have had a chance to pick them off, especially that last one,” McDonald said.  “I’ll just work on getting my hands where they need to be, moving my feet and just trying to work on my technique. I think instead of turning into the guy, if I would have leaned and located the ball, I would have had a better chance to make a play.

“But, at the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s the most important thing.”