May 28, 2016
Optimism is a common sentiment at this time of year around the Canadian Football League.
Training camps are about to begin, most teams don’t have significant injury issues and all the offseason signings and additions have organizations dreaming of playoff runs into late November.
That kind of sentiment has popped up here in Winnipeg in late May/eary June over the last few years, too, only to be quickly fading away by late summer.
But after a winter that featured an aggressive approach to free agency and some tweaking of the coaching staff, there is a different vibe in Bomberland these days.
“It’s exciting,” said veteran defensive back Chris Randle as Bomber veterans reported for medicals. “I think we have the roster built to perform to our expectations. We need to go out there and perform at a level that’s better than what we’ve been doing. Period.
“We have the guys to do that.”
Those guys include, among others, new faces like running back Andrew Harris, defensive tackles Euclid Cummings and Keith Shologan and kicker Justin Medlock.
“I got in a couple of days ago and this is new… it’s kind of like a maze to me here,” said Medlock. “I got really comfortable in Hamilton, so this will take a little time and then I’ll be good to go.
“I’m new. I’m trying to fit in and not have them adjust to me. We did some good things in Hamilton. I’ve been saying guys have to buy in. You can’t complain. You’ve got to buy in. I’m a big believer in that. Do your job and don’t make excuses.”
Jamaal Westerman, the Bombers Most Outstanding Player, Defensive Player and Canadian a year ago, will be lining up with three new faces alongside him on the defensive line: Keith Shologan, Euclid Cummings and a still-to-be-determined new end opposite of him.
And vets like Shologan and Cummings know that the road to success starts right away, on Day 1 of camp.
“We all know what we expect this year,” said Westerman. “There’s only one team that can get the Grey Cup and that’s what we want to do. But it doesn’t start there. It starts now and every day until the end of the season and into the playoffs. We all have high expectations, but you can’t just talk about it, you have to grind every day.”
BOMBER CAMP REPORT
COMINGS/GOINGS:
The Bombers released two on Saturday, in defensive lineman Emmanuel Dieke, and receiver Kris Adams, both imports.
A YEAR LATER:
Here’s Westerman on the difference between being a new face last year compared to this season:
“Last year I was kind of tip-toeing around, seeing who is cool, not cool. There’s just more comfort. I’m excited to be here and now I know guys. You can talk about guys’ offseason… some guys got married, some guys had kids. It’s an exciting time to be in camp.”
GOOD TO GO:
Chris Randle, who will be making the switch back to the secondary after starting games last year at outside linebacker, declared himself 100 per cent Saturday after a knee injury cost him the last half of the season.
And the mental battle of dealing with an injury was just as difficult as the physical.
“I had to leave (last season), honestly, because it was that hard,” said Randle. “I couldn’t walk around and see what was happening. I had to step away from it all. Trying to balance where you want to be with where you are was really hard.”
The Bombers expect to have 85 players, including draft picks and non-counters Billy Pavopoulos and John Rush, on the field on Sunday as all have passed their medicals.
