Football – Winnipeg Free Press

Inexperienced Bombers fall to Riders

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 2, 2023

Hallelujah, the CFL preseason is officially in the rear-view mirror. Let the real games begin.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders faced off in the final game of the exhibition season, with the prairie rivals playing in front of a crowd of 24,654 at IG Field Friday night. The Bombers would try to make it a game as the night wore on but failed to mount a late comeback as the Roughriders rolled to a 28-16 victory.

The Bombers wrap up the preseason with a 1-1 record, having defeated the Edmonton Elks, 25-23, on the road last Saturday. The Roughriders won both their preseason games, including a 30-27 home triumph over the B.C. Lions.

Winnipeg will begin the regular season next Friday (June 9) against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look at Friday’s loss, with some news, notes and analysis from the game.

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Friday night preseason tilt last chance to impress Bombers’ brass

Jeff Hamilton 7 minute read Preview

Friday night preseason tilt last chance to impress Bombers’ brass

Jeff Hamilton 7 minute read Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will go with a roster full of mostly fresh faces for their preseason finale after playing a majority of its veterans in last week’s opener.

The Bombers welcome the Saskatchewan Roughriders to town Friday night in what will be the team’s final tuneup before the regular season gets underway with a home date against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 9.

The lineup against the Roughriders will feature some experienced Bombers, but is made up mostly of rookies and newcomers trying to carve out a spot — either on the active roster or practice team. Final cuts will be made Saturday.

“Be right and make plays,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said when asked what players can do to make a final strong and lasting impression. “Show a high degree of physicality — all the stuff we like from football players.”

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Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

Jones on the hot seat against Roughriders

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Jones on the hot seat against Roughriders

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

Josh Jones will need to have one heck of a performance Friday night if he wants to remain with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The 22-year-old quarterback is in a battle with fellow rookie Tyrrell Pigrome for the team’s third-string job but already finds himself as the underdog.

Pigrome won over a lot of people last week in the club’s preseason opener in Edmonton by completing two-of-four passes for 43 yards, while leading the club with 71 rushing yards on five carries, and scoring a pair of touchdowns with his legs.

Jones, who started five seasons at NCAA Division II UNC-Pembroke, took the reins on the final two drives but wasn’t able to make the same splash in the 25-23 victory.

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Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

Star receiver Lawler suspended by Bombers

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Star receiver Lawler suspended by Bombers

Jeff Hamilton 2 minute read Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are dealing with a massive hit to their roster just a week before the CFL season begins.

The team has transferred star receiver Kenny Lawler to the suspended list, “… pending resolution of matters related to his 2021 off-field incident,” the Bombers said in a statement. An update on Lawler’s status will be provided once the situation resolves, with the expectation that it will take between three or four weeks to achieve that goal, the two-sentence statement read.

There was no further information provided by the Bombers.

However, league sources confirmed to the Free Press the off-field incident in question is related to Lawler’s charge for impaired driving after a single-vehicle accident in the early hours of Monday, Oct. 4, 2021.

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Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

Bombers DB Houston aims for major comeback after minor setback

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Bombers DB Houston aims for major comeback after minor setback

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers expected American defensive back Tyquwan Glass to be an important piece of their secondary in 2022.

Three weeks into the year, however, Glass was cut, largely in part to the emergence of Demerio Houston.

Houston, a practice-squad player the year before who only saw action in four games, showed promise at boundary corner and the team decided to roll with him.

It proved to be a wise decision as the Shelby, N.C., resident played at a high level, and made one of the biggest plays of the season in Week 6 with a game-winning interception at home against the Calgary Stampeders off a Kamar Jorden bobble.

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Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

Bombers training camp and exhibition games are for evaluating talent

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Preview

Bombers training camp and exhibition games are for evaluating talent

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

It’s always important to take the CFL preseason with a grain of salt.

While players work all off-season to get into shape, and then use training camp as a way to further get ready for the season, there’s really no way to truly replicate the kind of action you see in a ‘real’ game. Because players need time to shake off the rust built up over a long winter, performances in the preseason — good or bad — aren’t necessarily strong indicators of what’s to come.

Add in the fact key players are often limited in their playing time or held out altogether, making room for younger and inexperienced players who in most cases are new to the CFL, drawing any kind of concrete conclusions is a fool’s game.

That’s not to suggest what we’ve seen over the last week is meaningless — not even close. A strong preseason effort can earn a rookie a job or, in the case of a seasoned veteran, provide the confidence to hit the ground running when the regular season starts.

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Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

Punting position up in the air

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Punting position up in the air

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are still struggling to solve their punting situation after 18 days of training camp and a pre-season game.

If anything, things are more complicated than ever as Global punters Jamieson Sheahan and Karl Schmitz both impressed in last Saturday’s exhibition game at Commonwealth Stadium against the Edmonton Elks.

The pair had four punts each, with Sheahan’s going for an average of 48.3 yards per kick and Schmitz’s travelling 49.5 yards.

Canadian Marc Liegghio, the team’s punter the past two seasons, sat out the Edmonton game but will get a chance to show his stuff on Friday at IG Field against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the preseason finale.

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Wednesday, May. 31, 2023

Collaros to sit out preseason tilt vs. Riders

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Collaros to sit out preseason tilt vs. Riders

Jeff Hamilton 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Mike O’Shea has seen all he needs to from quarterback Zach Collaros as the 2023 CFL season inches closer.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach confirmed Collaros will not be taking part in the club’s preseason finale against the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders Friday night.

“It’s the same thing we talk about every year with Zach,” O’Shea said after training camp practice Tuesday. “We think we have a plan. Then we work the plan with him, ask him what he thinks he needs. Couple that with what (offensive co-ordinator) Buck (Pierce) thinks and what I think and come up with an answer. And that’s the answer.”

O’Shea made his decision after watching Collaros play the the first quarter and the first five minutes of the second quarter in a 25-23 road victory over the Edmonton Elks Saturday. Collaros and the first-team offence struggled at times, including starting the game off with back-to-back two-and-outs before Collaros connected with Kenny Lawler for a 67-yard touchdown.

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Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Murphy’s mistake pays off

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Murphy’s mistake pays off

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

It turns out you can be in the wrong place at the right time.

The fourth quarter of Saturday’s preseason game in Edmonton against the Elks began with a ball being snapped over the head of rookie Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome.

The blunder put the Blue and Gold in a dreadful second-and-27 situation.

Fortunately for them, no harm was done, as Pigrome fired a 34-yard pass to Canadian rookie receiver Jeremy Murphy for the first down on the very next play.

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Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Pigrome breaks out in CFL debut

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Pigrome breaks out in CFL debut

Jeff Hamilton 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Tyrrell Pigrome certainly knows how to make a strong first impression.

In the thick of a battle for the third quarterback spot on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster, Pigmore made the most of his first taste of CFL game action, helping his new team earn a 25-23 road win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday. It was the Bombers first preseason game of the year and a breakout performance for Pigmore, who rushed for two touchdowns while also making some plays down field with his arm.

“That was a great experience. Of course, you probably have a little jitters. You make sure you’re trying to do everything right,” Pigmore said Tuesday, as the Bombers returned to training camp after a two-day break. “I had some good plays and at the same time I felt like I had some bad ones. But it was the best opportunity just to be out there, have some fun with the guys and just come out with a win.”

Pigmore was the third quarterback to enter the game, behind starter Zach Collaros and No. 2 pivot Dru Brown. The Elks had just evened the score, 17-17, with a field goal early in the fourth quarter when Pigrome was called into action.

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Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Game time for Bombers hopefuls

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Game time for Bombers hopefuls

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Friday, May. 26, 2023

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have spent two gruelling weeks battling their own teammates and are ready to smack some pads against real opponents in what will be a critical affair for veterans and rookies looking to secure a job.

The Bombers are in Edmonton to play the Elks on Saturday afternoon, the first of two pre-season games for the Blue and Gold. The second exhibition tilt is back in Winnipeg against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 2, which will act as the final tuneup before the start of the 2023 CFL regular season just six days later.

“We look to guys to know what they’re doing out there, compete, make plays and set themselves apart,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea following Thursday’s training camp workout, when asked what he’s looking for from an evaluation standpoint. The Bombers held no practice or media availability Friday.

“On film, it would look like they’re doing everything right, that all the assignments are correct. They’re efficient in their movement. It might not add up to tackles or catches or whatever, but they’re always right and always in the right spot.”

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Friday, May. 26, 2023

NFL veteran Cole enjoys the challenge of adapting to CFL

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NFL veteran Cole enjoys the challenge of adapting to CFL

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Friday, May. 26, 2023

It was the day of an NFL pre-season game with the New York Giants when Matt Cole was hit with an unexpected demand.

Joe Judge, the team’s head coach at the time, told the wide receiver he’d be moving to the other side of the ball and playing cornerback when the Giants met the Cleveland Browns in a few hours.

“That morning, as I got on the first bus to the stadium, they said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna need you to play corner today.’ And I was like, ‘For sure, let’s do it,” Cole told the Free Press this week.

He wasn’t a complete stranger to the position as he attended several defensive-back camps while growing up, but it was still a big ask and one most pros wouldn’t relish.

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Friday, May. 26, 2023

Focused on making the kick

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Focused on making the kick

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Thursday, May. 25, 2023

They’re friends and have been roommates since the start of camp, but this weekend in Edmonton, punters Jamieson Sheahan and Karl Schmitz will be in a battle against each other to keep their professional football dreams alive.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers take on the Elks at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday afternoon in preseason action. Head coach Mike O’Shea confirmed Thursday the team will use the exhibition to evaluate their two Global punters.

To give the new guys a chance to show what they can do, Canadian Marc Liegghio, who has handled punting duties the past two seasons, will not play.

“We’re all grown men. We’re all adults and understand that this is a job interview,” said Sheahan, an Australian out of the University of California.

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Thursday, May. 25, 2023

Steep learning curve for Bombers newcomers

Jeff Hamilton 4 minute read Preview

Steep learning curve for Bombers newcomers

Jeff Hamilton 4 minute read Thursday, May. 25, 2023

When you’re able to bring back a majority of your team from one season to the next, much like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have done for years, it creates several advantages.

Because the Bombers are mostly intact from last season, they’ve been able to hit the ground running by introducing advanced packages within their playbook. In simpler terms, Winnipeg has added onto what it’s already installed previously as a team, taking full advantage of the many familiar faces on the roster.

That’s great news for players who have been around these parts for years. Not so much for those who are new to the Bombers, and especially those new to the CFL, with the more sophisticated packages only adding to an already steep learning curve.

“It’s a lot for the young guys,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said following training camp Thursday. “But I don’t think we’re in a position where we want to lower that standard. There’s lots of time for them to get caught up and there’s access to coaches and players… guys are available to help. But, yeah, it’s quick and there are certainly more details. It’s one of the things you have to do if you want to get better. You got to dig down even deeper and find more details. It’ll make a difference.”

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Thursday, May. 25, 2023

Bennett in his element at first pro camp

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Bennett in his element at first pro camp

Jeff Hamilton 4 minute read Thursday, May. 25, 2023

Anthony Bennett is two weeks into his first professional football training camp and it’s exactly what he thought it would be. That doesn’t mean it’s been an easy ride – quite the opposite, actually – but the recent draft pick of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been soaking up every moment.

“It’s more surreal, that you work this hard to get there, but it’s nothing surprising,” Bennett told the Free Press following practice Thursday. “You knew it was going to be faster, it’s going to be harder. Guys are going to be taller. Guys are going to be bigger. Guys are going to be weirdly smaller but they’re faster. It’s all these different scenarios that you prep your mind for and you’re OK with.”

The Bombers selected Bennett, a bruising defensive end whose collegiate career included stints at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Regina, with the eighth overall pick in the CFL Draft earlier this month. The 26-year-old grew up in Florida but was eligible to be selected because his mother is from Regina.

The last couple of weeks have been a crash course in learning the Bombers defensive and special-teams systems and Bennett has been like a sponge. That he gets to work alongside some of the CFL’s top pass-rushers in Willie Jefferson and Jackson Jeffcoat has only helped his development.

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Thursday, May. 25, 2023

Augustine always ready to be Johnny on the spot

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Augustine always ready to be Johnny on the spot

Jeff Hamilton 7 minute read Wednesday, May. 24, 2023

Johnny Augustine isn’t one to sweat the small stuff. He does pride himself on doing all the little things to ensure he’s in peak shape.

Just one look at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back, who is about as physically fit as anyone on the team, including possessing an eight-pack of abs, and you get a good idea of just how disciplined he is. Dig a bit deeper and you get a better understanding of where that attitude and consistency comes from.

“It’s just about getting my body right – physically, mentally and spiritually,” Augustine told the Free Press following training camp on Wednesday. “I love what I do, and I love the process.”

Consider his off-season, which Augustine said starts off with some self-reflection and a break from the weight room while he deals with any lingering injuries. That includes a lot of soft tissue work, before hitting the weights hard in the months leading up to a new season.

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Wednesday, May. 24, 2023

Bombers’ hard-nosed centre takes long road to starting job

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Bombers’ hard-nosed centre takes long road to starting job

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Wednesday, May. 24, 2023

Life can come at you fast. Just ask Winnipeg Blue Bombers centre Chris Kolankowski, who over the span of four years has jumped from the doghouse to the penthouse in his three-down football career.

It was around this time in 2019 that Kolankowski was released by the Toronto Argonauts during training camp. He had been drafted by the Argos in the sixth round, 49th overall, in 2016, and had played in more than 20 games with the CFL club, including winning the Grey Cup as a rookie in 2017.

“I had to start looking for other jobs,” Kolankowski told the Free Press following Bombers training camp practice on Wednesday. “After getting cut, I probably worked on football for a couple months, but eventually you got to find something to pay the bills.”

The 31-year-old missed the entire 2019 campaign. He worked in geotechnical drilling, which is a fancy way of saying he had a job in construction. His new life consisted of working anywhere from eight to 16 hours per day, going to the gym, then home to eat and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

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Wednesday, May. 24, 2023

First-year pros vie for job as Bombers third-string QB

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First-year pros vie for job as Bombers third-string QB

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

Tyrrell Pigrome missed the birth of his first-born just to have a chance to make the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The rookie quarterback woke up at 5 a.m. on May 11, the second day of rookie camp, to missed calls and texts from his partner Nayda back home in Maryland. She was having intense lower back pain and needed to go to the hospital.

By the time Pigrome got to IG Field and sat down for breakfast, he was officially a dad. Nayda’s mother broke the news by texting him a picture of his baby girl, Lavani.

“I lost my appetite,” Pigrome, a 25-year-old who finished his college career at Towson, told the Free Press after Tuesday’s training camp session.

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Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

Blue Bombers hopeful Agnew racing clock in effort to make team

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Blue Bombers hopeful Agnew racing clock in effort to make team

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Monday, May. 22, 2023

Keenan Agnew’s time with his family has boded well for him. Time, however, is not on his side with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Agnew is one of the Bombers’ recent acquisitions, joining training camp on Thursday. That’s left the 24-year-old defensive tackle to play catch up on learning the playbook and with fewer reps in practice to impress the coaching staff as he fights for a roster spot.

It’s undoubtedly the biggest opportunity in Agnew’s career.

After finishing his career at Southern Illinois University last season, the 6-0, 290-pound interior lineman had a pair of mini-camp tryouts in the National Football League with the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, with whom his older brother, Ray Agnew III, is a pro scout. He also got a look from the Detroit Lions, with whom his father, Ray Agnew Jr., serves as the assistant general manager.

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Monday, May. 22, 2023

Blue Bombers baby boom

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Blue Bombers baby boom

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Friday, May. 19, 2023

While his teammates were battling through the first week of training camp, Jake Thomas was on a special assignment back home.

Thomas, a hard-nosed defensive tackle and the longest-tenured member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, now in his 11th season, has been on daddy daycare duty for the first parts of camp. He and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their second child and first daughter, Avery, to the world on May 9.

Indeed, it was a busy and exciting couple of weeks in the Thomas household, where the new father had been helping change diapers and keeping his young son Emmitt busy while mom does the feedings and recovers from a C-section birth. Emmett just turned two years old a few days earlier, on May 5.

“There hasn’t been too much sleeping going on,” said a beaming Thomas, who returned to the city on Thursday and was limited in practice Friday as he works to get back into practice shape. “I probably still left a little too early, but my wife gets it. She understands football, and I was just lucky enough that the team allowed me to stay there.”

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Friday, May. 19, 2023

Linebacker Maruo has had enough of losing

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Linebacker Maruo has had enough of losing

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Thursday, May. 18, 2023

Just over a month after losing the Grey Cup, Bombers linebacker Les Maruo suffered another crushing defeat.

Most players return home to rest at the conclusion of their CFL season, but Maruo heads overseas to play in Japan’s professional football circuit — the X-League — with the Panasonic Impulse.

Maruo, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft, had to miss the regular season, but made it in time for the championship game, the Rice Bowl, at the Tokyo Dome against the Fujitsu Frontiers.

Panasonic ended up losing 29-21.

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Thursday, May. 18, 2023

Alexander hits the ground running

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Preview

Alexander hits the ground running

Jeff Hamilton 6 minute read Thursday, May. 18, 2023

It’s been a much different start to the CFL season for Brandon Alexander compared to last year.

Last spring, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers safety entered training camp with a limp, still rehabbing from a serious knee injury he suffered late in the 2021 Grey Cup. That year, Alexander wouldn’t be ready to play for months, with the team’s medical staff keeping him off the field until mid-September, limiting the hard-hitting defensive back to five regular-season games.

Fast-forward to today and Alexander is fully healthy and has hit the ground running. With the benefit of a full off-season, one dedicated to training rather than healing, the 29-year-old joined his teammates for training camp this year looking bigger and stronger than ever before.

In fact, Alexander put on an extra 15 pounds of muscle, bringing him up to nearly 200 pounds. That added weight appears to be in all the right places, too, and ask the player himself and he’ll tell you it hasn’t affected his speed or footwork.

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Thursday, May. 18, 2023

Bombers welcome introduction of new safety gear

Taylor Allen 3 minute read Preview

Bombers welcome introduction of new safety gear

Taylor Allen 3 minute read Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

A sizable portion of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were wearing a new piece of equipment on Wednesday.

The club received its shipment of Guardian Caps, a piece of foam-padded headgear that goes on top of the helmet.

The CFL’s new health and safety measures require offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers and running backs to wear it in training camp during most drills.

“The Guardian Cap is a padded shell affixed to the outside of the helmet. Research has shown that when worn by one player, the Guardian Cap reduces the severity of impact by at least a 10 per cent, and by at least 20 per cent when worn by both players,” said the CFL in a press release.

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Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

Bringing the thunder from down under

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Bringing the thunder from down under

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

It can be comical watching a punter attempt to make a tackle.

Returners usually run by them — or through them — with ease.

If the Winnipeg Blue Bombers decide to roll with Australian Jamieson Sheahan at the position, they can be assured their last line of defence is in good hands.

“Yeah, that’s not going to be an issue. I tackled for the first 20 years of my life,” said Sheahan after Wednesday’s training camp session at IG Field.

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Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

The CFL’s quarterback carousel

Jeff Hamilton 7 minute read Preview

The CFL’s quarterback carousel

Jeff Hamilton 7 minute read Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

How concerned should we be over the current crop of starting quarterbacks in the CFL?

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time now, ever since Nathan Rourke departed for the NFL. Rourke, a Canadian who signed a three-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, spent just two years in the CFL, the second in which he set several records, and would have set even more had he not suffered a serious foot injury midway through the season.

Indeed, Rourke dominated headlines throughout the 2022 campaign, with all the attention on the budding star overshadowing an otherwise underwhelming group of passers, with one notable exception in Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the league’s reigning back-to-back most outstanding player, Zach Collaros. Beyond Collaros, you can make the argument no other franchise in the league has even close to the same level of stability at the most important position heading into this season.

If it’s not a talent issue, then it’s circumstance, most notably a QB having to start over with a new team and teammates. That’s no easy transition, even for a league known for plenty of turnover.

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Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

June 4, 2023

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