There was joy and there was pain last Saturday in Vancouver for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, all part of an emotional thrill ride that offered up all the extremes a Canadian Football League game can offer.
And while the Bombers have spoken ad nauseam about flushing the result – a 20-17 loss in which they coughed up a 17-0 lead – there was at least one person back home in Winnipeg missing every nanosecond of it all, both the good and the bad.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was hard to watch,” began Bombers defensive back Brandon Alexander this week, “but you definitely want to be out there in the game with them. It’s any feeling you might have, based on what you’re missing and that’s whether we gave up a touchdown or got an interception.
“When you are back home watching, you still want all those feelings. Nobody wants to sit out. This is our job. This is our lives. This is our career. And I wanted to be out there and do everything I can for my teammates. That’s frustrating.”
The Bombers are expecting to have Alexander back in their secondary for Saturday afternoon’s game in Toronto against the Argonauts. The second-year Bomber – the club’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2017 – was injured in the win over Montreal on June 22nd and has spent the last three weeks playing the spectator.
Living through that, after working so hard just to make the squad a year ago, can take years off a guy. After all, Alexander had been teaching high-school algebra when the Bombers called and his first season in the Canadian Football League helped rekindle his love for the game.
It’s only understandable, then, that the 24-year-old Orlando product was thrilled with just being back on the practice field this week. He had the game taken away before – he was injured during a look-see from the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 – and didn’t want to live through that again.
“I will always say every day is important, but when you don’t practice, when you don’t play you can’t help but think about how quickly this game can pass you by, whether it be age-wise or whether it be injury-wise,” said Alexander. “You just never know when your time is up or when you might be told to hang them up.
“You can’t come out here and take anything for granted. You’ve got to make sure that you prep and prepare in every way, from taking care of your body to the way you eat and how you watch film. You have to do that every single day because one play could end the rest of the career.
“I did everything I could while I was out, with treatment and everything, to get back out here just to practice with my guys again. Every day matters.”
BOMBERS REPORT | July 19, 2018
The Bombers completed their final full practice today in advance of flying to Toronto tomorrow for Saturday’s game against the Argonauts Here are some notes and quotes from today’s session…
REBOUNDING:
Just a few days ago Bombers slotback Nic Demski was slumped in his locker in the visitors’ dressing room at B.C. Place, kicking himself for not squeezing a Matt Nichols pass late in the loss to the Lions. But the business of pro football means a guy can’t be disconsolate for too long.
“I’m the type of player that is pretty hard on myself when something like that happens,” said Demski on Thursday. “But I’ve flushed it, put it behind me, and now I’m using it as motivation to do better going forward.
“If you let that stuff hang on your shoulders in a negative way or drag on then you’re never going to be able to let it go. You’re never going to move forward in a positive direction if you let that negative energy stay with you.”
Some positive numbers for Demski to build on:
In last week’s game, he had six catches for 32 yards and another 35 yards on four carries. He already has 18 catches this year – just one less than last season – and has been targeted 29 times, already more than in 2017.
Now it’s a matter of finding some more consistency.
“That’s the name of the game, right there,” said Demski. “We’ve just got to all be on the same track and do our jobs as individuals. There’s a lot of potential here. We’ve got a lot of great players on our team, a lot of great players who haven’t even played a game yet with this offence.
“We’ve got everything here, it’s just a matter of coming together. We’ve got these first five games done now and now that Matty’s back (Nichols), we’re all starting to move in the right direction. It’s going to be a lot of fun from here on out.”
OUCH UPDATE:
The Bombers held a closed practice on Thursday, so any updates from what was witnessed on the field are nil. But Chris Randle conducted interviews following the session and is good to go, and it is expected that Maurice Leggett could get the green light, too.
A decision on linebacker Chandler Fenner won’t be made official until Friday.
“We don’t go (to Toronto) until tomorrow morning, so we’ll take as much time as we need to let him play,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.
HELLO AGAIN:
The Bombers have brought back import defensive back Chris Humes and added him to their practice roster. Humes (6-0, 200, Arkansas State) was with the team in this past training camp after signing as an undrafted free agent with the Oakland Raiders in 2017.
“Just to keep everybody rolling we need guys in house so that there is not the cumulative tiring effect,” said O’Shea. “We want guys in here, too. We always want competition. We always want good players in the building.”
STEP AWAY FROM THE PANIC BUTTON:
This from Andrew Harris: “I don’t think we’re panicking. I don’t think we’re desperate. We’re focused, we know what we need to do. We’ve got a lot of veterans in this room who know what we need to do to and it filters down to the rest of the team.
“It comes down to game day and executing for 60 minutes. We’ve just got to show up.”
Yeah, but a loss would drop you to 2-4…
“That’s 12 more games to come back,” added Harris. “I’m not worried. I was 1-6 and won a Grey Cup.”
FRIENDS… AND FOES:
Bombers cornerback Chris Randle spent a season and a half lining up beside T.J. Heath and Saturday afternoon the old pals in the secondary will be wearing enemy uniforms.
“Man, we’re already talking about it,” said Randle. “We’ve been talking about it since the offseason and we’ve got a little wager on the season – who gets the most interceptions. We’ve been going back and forth about that.
“I’m excited to see him and ready to compete.”
Just FYI, both Randle and Heath have one interception so far this year.
“One and one,” said Randle with a grin. “He told me when he got it, ‘We’re tied up.’ So, there have been some simple reminders to one another.”
