It was early Friday morning, six days into the tedium that is Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp, when new linebacker Chandler Fenner felt inspired about his new squad and his new address.

And so, he tweeted this:

Another day in paradise. pic.twitter.com/iZW0vi0o0D

— Chandler Fenner (@cjfenn12) May 25, 2018

Winnipeg has been called a lot of things in its many, many years of existence, but it’s not too often referred to as ‘paradise’ – even for those of us who call it home and love it here. As has often been said, you have to live here for a while to get it.

But if Tourism Winnipeg is looking for a new spokesperson and the Bombers for a pitch man for future prospective Canadian Football League free agents, they might hit up No. 22. After all, just chat with Fenner for even a few minutes and the man is a walking, talking billboard for his new home.

“I really couldn’t be happier, to be honest,” began Fenner Saturday after Day 7 of Bombers training camp. “I love everything about this place. I have no complaints.

“When I sent that tweet out I was just sitting down eating breakfast and looking out on the field. It’s been a great experience so far and I’m just very excited about the future.”

The Bombers made Fenner one of their first signings on the opening of CFL free agency in February, welcoming aboard the versatile linebacker/defensive back after he had spent the last two years with the B.C. Lions. Still, with the additions of local products like Nic Demski and Kienan LaFrance, Adarius Bowman and, more recently, Adam Bighill, Fenner’s signing has flown a bit under the CFL radar.

Yet, the skillset he brings to the defence and to special teams – his 27 tackles on specials last year tied for second in the CFL – could have as big an impact as any for the Bombers in 2018.

“He’s shown exactly what we saw on tape,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea of Fenner. “He’s got a really high motor, he gets to the ball all over the field. And then the additional thing that was key for us is he had 27 special teams tackles.

“He’s got a real passion for it and he’s going to spread that to the other starters, so we’re going to get a lot of mileage out of a guy like Chandler Fenner.”

‘Passion’ is a word that certainly would describe the emotion that flowed from Fenner during a chat with bluebombers.com on Saturday. The more he spoke of the decision to sign here, the more animated he became.

And as the discussion turned to the possibilities for the defence, Fenner’s face lit up like a city hall Christmas tree.

“There’s a little bit of an element of the unknown, but as far as the decision to come here I had a good feeling of what I was going to get,” he said. “It really has been everything I expected it to be and then some, so I’m really happy about my decision.

“We have a lot of versatile guys on our team, defence especially. We have guys that can move positions easily and it’s going to make it really hard for offences to gameplan against our defence and for defences to gameplan against our offence. On top of that, you still have to think about special teams and we have all of those guys that can play special teams.

“All three phases of the game are just through the roof right now. It’s going to be difficult for other teams, but I’m going to think about it in terms of us: it’s going to be a good season for us. With all these pieces and the coaches we have, I have very high expectations.”

Remember, too, that Fenner came aboard long before the addition of Bighill. And now that his former teammate is aboard…

“This was a great addition to an already great team,” said Fenner. “It can only help our team.

“I was already excited before that, so imagine my surprise when I saw that on social media. I’m just happy man. I just can’t explain it any other way: all the pieces to the puzzle are here to make a great run.”

BOMBERS CAMP REPORT | DAY 7

COMINGS/GOINGS:

The Bombers welcomed aboard another new face on Saturday, signing a new running back.

Jahad Thomas (5-10, 190, Temple) played four seasons with the Owls, racking up 2,599 rushing yards and 30 TDs, ranking him fourth on the school’s all-time yardage list. Thomas signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and had a stint with the New York Jets before being waived last month.

OUCH REPORT:

One change to the list of walking wounded, with slotback Daniel Petermann – who had been impressive before missing the last couple of sessions – returning to work on Saturday.

Still on the mend are LB Maurice Leggett, LB Ian Wild, LB Jovan Santos-Knox, WR Drew Wolitarsky, WR Tyrone Pierre, WR Weston Dressler, WR Corey Washington, SB Nic Demski, FB Mike Miller, DE Trent Corney, DL Brandin Bryant and DL Sam Montgomery.

FYI:

The Bombers have been auditioning a few kick-return candidates to challenge both Kevin Fogg and Ryan Lankford. Among those who have taken reps are WR A.J. Coney, WR Myles White, and recently signed Charles Nelson, a First-Team All-Pac 12 returner with Oregon in 2015.

BRING THE NOISE:

The Bombers cranked up the sound at Investors Group Field on Saturday so the offence could get accustomed to working in loud conditions. There were a couple of offside infractions and that’s exactly why the team works in those situations.

“We threw in some crowd noise today so there were a couple more hiccups, more than if we didn’t have it,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “We brought it today, absolutely. It falls on the schedule and we needed to get it in somewhere.”

STANDING OUT:

Catching our eye on Saturday: WR Darvin Adams, who has been the most consistent receiver in camp, LB Quentin Gause, CB Kevin Fogg, LB Chandler Fenner, who had an interception, RB Andrew Harris, WR Ryan Lankford, QB Matt Nichols, LB Adam Bighill and WR A.J. Coney.

THE COACH SAYS:

O’Shea was asked what areas he would like to see improvement in from his team in the days leading up to Friday’s home exhibition game against the Edmonton Eskimos. His answer:

“We want to be a physical team and it’s hard to see that in these sort of settings. They’re practicing hard and when they’ve got their pads on they’re using their pads, but you’re really not going to the full extent… you’re not tackling, you’re not finishing blocks as hard as you probably would against a different opponent. You’re always waiting to see a little bit of that and how that’s going to turn out. There are just some guys you’re not going to really know everything about until they get to go against a different opponent.”

NEXT: Sunday, May 27: Practice: 1:30– 3:45 p.m.