He prefers ‘Dom’, for the record. The player roster and media guide read ‘Dominique’, but for those who know the man, it’s just ‘Dom.’

And maybe that says a lot about Dom Davis that, as he enters his third year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, we’re still trying to get clarification on what name he’d best like to be called.

He’s been here since late June of 2015, but remains in many ways very much a mystery as everyone in Bomber Nation is eager for some very real answers on whether he’s got enough game to be consistently pencilled in on the depth chart behind Matt Nichols ASAP.

“I’m itching to get out there,” said Davis after a third day of solid work at Bombers training camp. “It’s been like this for about six years now. I’ve been this patient for this long now.”

“I’m going to keep being patient and keep my head down until my number’s called.”

That’s the thing about the 27-year-old Lakeland, Florida product, who moved from Boston College to Fort Scott Community College to East Carolina during his college days, and had tryouts with Atlanta, Tennessee and Indianapolis in the NFL before heading north to the Canadian Football League, first with the Calgary Stampeders two springs ago.

Yes, for as much as Davis has all the physical skills – he is 6-3, 215 pounds, runs well and has a solid arm – his actual playing resume his thin.

He’s made one career start for the Bombers, a 21-11 loss to Toronto at the end of the 2015 season in which he went 16 of 25 for 169 yards with no TDs and no interceptions, but didn’t throw a single pass last year as the club took the starting chores from Drew Willy and gave them to Matt Nichols.

This past offseason, the Bombers gave veteran Kevin Glenn his release to pursue a starting gig – he’s the frontrunner to start Week 1 for the Saskatchewan Roughriders – knowing they had something in Davis.

They then inked veteran Dan LeFevour to push Davis and bolster their QB depth chart. But the No. 2 job is there for Davis to grab it, and he insists he’s a much more polished pivot than the one we saw at the end of ’15.

“It’s night and day. I see everything a lot better, I see the coverages clearly and I feel like the players around me see how comfortable I am in this offence,” said Davis. “I’m getting the ball out faster and letting the receivers make plays for me.

“I just need to get out there in games and prove it.”

That’s the thing now with Davis: talking is one thing, doing is entirely another. And this is a show-me business.

“My comfort level now since 2015? It’s night and day,” said Davis. “My first year I was still learning on the run, but I wasn’t all the way ready yet. Last year I felt like I was ready, but the coaches kept me back. I trust the coaches.

“I love this coaching staff. They told me they wanted me back, that they wanted me to come in and be the No. 2 and prove that I can be the back-up. That’s what I’m trying to do now.

“I know my role. But I have a passion for this game. I’ll keep preparing as a starter and sooner or later my number WILL be called. I want to prove that I can be a great quarterback in this league.”

Travis Bond (left) and Dom Davis hamming it up pre-practice Tuesday.

BOMBERS TRAINING CAMP – DAY 3

Ouch report: Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea confirmed Tuesday that linebacker Maurice Leggett will be out for a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury.

Also not practising on Tuesday were DB Kevin Fogg, SB T.J. Thorpe, DT Ian Marouf, OL Dominick Jackson and WR Matt Coates. WR Addison Richards, who was having another solid day, left practice early with an undisclosed injury. His status will likely be updated on Wednesday. DT Padric Scott was back at work after missing practice on Monday.

“I’m concerned for Moe,” said O’Shea. “But everybody saw what we did last year… we have players and depth for a reason and it certainly gives a lot of opportunities for a lot of extra reps at that position. It forces us as a staff to move guys around. If you’re going to take anything out of it, that’s a positive. We’ll find out who is versatile.”

O’Shea said he was confident Leggett would be ready for the regular season but “I’m also confident if he’s not, we’ll have somebody in there who can play that position.”

Stepping up: The man on the depth chart who had popped off the page even before the injury to Leggett is Roc Carmichael, first introduced to Bomber fans at mini-camp in April.

“He’s a good football player,” said O’Shea. “He can cover extremely well. He’s gritty, he’s tough. I tell you what I really notice about him, besides the on-field stuff, is every single day after practice he  is out there doing a little extra work. He could be by himself, he could be with a teammate, he could be with a couple teammates, but he’s always doing something extra.

“He’s got that workmanlike (approach) and whatever happens after that happens. We know he plays good special teams, he takes the special teams drills really seriously and wants to dominate those drills.

“There’s a lot to like about him. He’s a worker. He loves the game.”

Roc Carmichael during the team’s Rookie Camp.

Standing out: WR Darvin Adams, DE Tristan Okpalaugo, DB/LB Roc Carmichael, LB Thomas Miles, RB Andrew Harris, DB Derek Jones, QB Matt Nichols, DB Sam Brown.

O’Shea was asked about Adams, who was on track for some massive numbers last year before injuring his shoulder in Week 6. He had 51 receptions for 690 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games last year.

“The pace he was on last year was very impressive,” said O’Shea. “He expects that out of himself and we expect that of him, too. He practises hard, he plays hard, he’s smart, he’s athletic, he’s very competitive. I like being around the guy. He’s really good.”

Back in the groove: New DE Tristan Okpalaugo has been impressive through the first three days of camp with his speed off the edge. But he’s been critical of his own game to date, even if he’s getting praise from elsewhere.

“It’s just knocking off the rust from last year that had me have a slow start (Monday),” said Okpalaugo. “I feel like I’ve got a good group of guys alongside and behind me to help push me to be better. With (Jamaal) Westerman and Shayon (Green) and Trent (Corney) and (Jackson) Jeffcoat… it’s great guys to have working together. We’re a group and if one of us is wrong, we’re all wrong.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Kendall Roberson

Position: Running back
College: East Texas Baptist University
Acquired: Signed as a free agent on April 17, 2017
Notable: Roberson rushed for over 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior and, in a game against Belhaven University, posted the eighth-best rushing total in NCAA history by racking up 420 yards and five touchdowns on 33 carries.

On the early days of main training camp, after April’s mini-camp and last week’s rookie camp:

“It’s been a blessing thus far. I’m here to do the best I can and make those guys (veterans) better and they treat us really good as rookies. Overall, it’s been a great experience.”

On whether it’s difficult for a player from a smaller school to get noticed as compared to the prospects from big schools like Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, etc.:

“It’s a difficult struggle, especially when you’re not a D1 guy and you come from the bottom. But talent can be everywhere at every level. I just go with whatever I can. There are guys who are coaches here who came from that level so they understand that.”

His take on what might be available for him with the Bombers, knowing Andrew Harris is the starter and Timothy Flanders was so impressive in relief a year ago:

“You’ve got to take advantage of opportunity. This is an opportunity that thousands upon thousands would love. Instead of looking at it day by day you’ve really got to take it five minutes at a time. You don’t know how long you’re going to be here so every image of you is making an impression. Every step you take every five minutes you embrace it.

“It’s an all-day job. It’s something I learned while growing up. If you want to get and keep a job you’ve got to be a respectful young man, you’ve got to come to work on time and you’ve got to learn. You’ve got to learn from the guys that have been here and done it.”