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May 25, 2018

Training Camp Day 6 | Recap

Rashaun Simonise understands how this works and what is directly in front of him.

He has a lot to learn. Period. And it’s why he is gobbling up every nugget of information that is offered up in a Winnipeg Blue Bombers veteran receivers room and then with every rep he gets on the field.

His eagerness to play the sponge and soak up as much as possible hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Bombers’ brass through six days of training camp. That, in combination with his skillset and an assortment of injuries, has helped propel him to working with the starting offence over the last few days.

That education-in-progress aside, here’s what Simonise already does know from experience: the moment a guy believes he’s got everything figured out is often the same moment everything can be snatched away.

“With me and my whole story of everything I’ve been through it’s one of the things I’ve already learned: don’t take things for granted,” began Simonise Friday after Day 6 of Bombers training camp. “I’m blessed with a second opportunity and I’m going to enjoy every single second of it.”

“I’m fortunate to be on the field with an organization like Winnipeg. I couldn’t ask for much more: the sun’s out, it’s training camp and I feel like we’ve got one of the best teams in the league.”

Simonise has been one of the top stories through the early days of Bombers camp. He was selected by the Bombers 12th overall in last month’s Canadian Football League Draft as questions about his ability to mature into a pro saw him drop into the second round.

But the untested prospect who arrived here for rookie camp just over a week ago is already morphing into a real pro.

“He’s very likable, he’s a good kid and he’s putting in a lot of time to make sure he’s right,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “The other day, yesterday, LaPo (offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice) said he didn’t have one error throughout the practice. That’s good for anybody, not just a rookie.”

“I’m very, very happy with the way he’s learning and the way he’s fitting in. He’s a good kid. I think he’s having a fun. He’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s a kid that can work all day. He’s lapping it all up and not showing any signs of not being in shape or anything like that.”

“He’s fast… he’s tall. One of the way to get in good with LaPo and your teammates, especially on offence, is to be where you’re supposed to be on time. On the field he is that, for sure.”

Injuries to some of the Canadian receivers pegged to push for work at the wide receiver position have fast-tracked Simonise’s learning curve. Matt Coates broke his foot before camp even opened and Drew Wolitarsky, who began camp working with the starters, has been out for four days. Also nicked up is Tyrone Pierre, another wideout from the 2018 draft class.

Add that all up and Simonise has been catching passes primarily from Matt Nichols while working alongside veterans like Darvin Adams, Adarius Bowman and Weston Dressler.

“The first week of real camp has been a lot of adjustments, a lot of things I need to catch up on,” said Simonise. “Obviously the playbook is very much in depth, so I’ve got to get my technical stuff right with my spacing and everything and now keeping up with the speed of the first-team offence.”

 

“I’ve definitely had to adjust a lot but the veterans like AD (Adarius Bowman), DA (Darvin Adams), all those guys have been helping us out. They’ve made it a lot easier. (Being around the veterans) has helped a lot. It’s just knowledge on how to conduct yourself as a professional and looking at the way they move and conduct themselves is a big learning experience. They’re veterans and have been in the league for a while and know the ins and outs of everything. They’ve definitely been playing the role of being good veteran guys and taking care of us rookies.”

“We’re really fortunate with the great group of veteran guys that we have around here.”

O’Shea’s reference to Simonise having a mistake-free practice on Wednesday won’t go unnoticed in a camp where the work days are limited before the first preseason game arrives on June 1st, with the season opener just 13 days later.

Simonise has been energized being around an all-football, all-the-time environment and is determined to prove the Bombers right and any naysayers wrong.

“I try not to put pressure on myself,” he said. “I feel like a lot of people will have certain expectations of me, or other people in general. I just try to have my own expectations of myself and what I want to come in and achieve and the attitude I bring to the organization. At the end of the day, I do have to light a little fire under myself every day to keep up with training camp. It moves fast and this is a professional organization and so the day to day installs are very large as opposed to university.

“But I’ve seen it first-hand where a player will get an opportunity and sometimes they’re not ready for it. And then there are no guarantees that opportunity will come around again. Me, being able to learn that first-hand with the experiences I’ve already been through in my football career is something I understand. It’s about staying ready so that I don’t have to catch up and get ready. That’s something I’m forcing on myself: to be ready to step up and perform without having to need those extra teaching tapes or having a coach help you out with everything.

“I’m not at 100 percent, but I feel like I’m making progress and getting better.”


BOMBERS TRAINING CAMP REPORT | DAY 6

COMINGS/GOINGS:

The Bombers added two and deleted two on Friday. Coming aboard are:

QB Bryan Bennett (6-3, 215, Southeastern Louisiana) who returns to the club after being here in 2016 and in camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017. He had a stint with the Indianapolis Colts after splitting his college career between the Oregon Ducks and Southeastern Louisiana Lions, completing 403 passes for 6,102 yards and 48 touchdowns in four seasons.

Here’s Mike O’Shea on the decision to bring back Bennett:

“We like him as an athlete. He’s got more experience now. We think he’s going to be able to process through the playbook and on the field and we’ll see if he can help us.”

WR/KR Charles Nelson (5’8, 170, Oregon) played four seasons for the Ducks, catching 124 passes for 1,555 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also had 2,424 kick return yards and two kick return touchdowns during his time at Oregon. In 2014, Nelson received the Gordon E. Wilson Award as Oregon’s top special teams standout and earned First-Team Pac-12 All-Conference honours in 2015.

The Bombers also released International linebacker Chinedu Oparaku and International defensive lineman Larry Webster.

 

OUCH REPORT:

Those hobbling or unable to practice include: WR Drew Wolitarsky, WR Tyrone Pierre, WR Weston Dressler, SB Daniel Petermann, SB Nic Demski, RB Kienan LaFrance, FB Mike Miller, DT Brandin Bryant, DL Sam Montgomery, LB Jovan Santos-Knox, LB Ian Wild, DE Trent Corney, DB Mohammed Seisay, LB Maurice Leggett.

FYI, with Santos-Knox not participating, the linebacking crew featured Adam Bighill in the middle and flanked by Kyrie Wilson and Chandler Fenner.

“All these guys, they don’t want to be standing around,” said O’Shea. “We don’t have guys who are content with being on the sidelines for the rest of camp. Jovan Santos-Knox doesn’t even want to look at his coach; he just wants to get back on the field.

“This is painful for guys… not the injury, the sitting out. They’re going to do everything they can to make sure Al (Head Athletic Therapist Al Couture) knows they’re ready. And Al along with (Assistant Athletic Therapists) Brayden (Miller) and Chris (Mikolajek) and their staff are going to do everything they can to get these guys back as quickly as possible, keeping in mind we’ve got to be safe and not run the risk of re-doing what they’ve done.”

HIGH PRAISE FOR T.O:

O’Shea was asked about DE Tristan Okpalaugo on Friday and what he offers the defence and his answer spoke to the high motor the veteran end provides.

“Tristan brings something to the game that not a lot of defensive linemen have: the guy runs all day,” said O’Shea. “He runs sideline to sideline and will pursue plays all over the field. It’s awesome to see and it’s good for his teammates to see that. He runs by people that are apparently faster than him and it urges them to run faster, too. Sure, we want him to be steady against the run and get after the passer, but he’s got something a lot of others don’t have and that kind of effort is contagious.”

STANDING OUT ON FRIDAY:

WR Darvin Adams, QB Matt Nichols, QB Alex Ross, QB Chris Streveler, DB Tyniel Cooper, WR A.J. Coney, DB Steven Clarke, LB Quentin Gause, WR Donteea Dye, CB Brian Walker.

NEXT: Saturday, May 26 – Practice: 8:30– 11:55 a.m.