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June 23, 2019

Day 1 Notes & Quotes | Week 3

The Bombers were back at work Sunday after their first of three bye weeks this season. Here’s our collection of notes and quotes from the session…

Andrew Harris has been doing this long enough to know how to play the game.

And so when a bundle of microphones were thrust into his face following practice Sunday morning looking for a comment on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers next opponent – and that would be the unbeaten Edmonton Eskimos for this Thursday’s home opener – the veteran tailback was respectful and succinct with just a hint of ‘we see you/we’re ready.’

“They fly around, they’re very physical, they like to celebrate a lot after plays,” began Harris when asked for a take on the Eskimos. “They’re definitely a team that likes to blitz a lot. They’ve got a lot of good ball hawks out there and great players and we know what we’re going to get in the interior with Almondo Sewell. It’s going to be a good test for us.

“They’re coming in hot. They played two great games and you can tell that they’re feeling themselves a bit, but we’re ready to get after it again. Obviously, the Week 2 bye is not ideal, but I feel like we’re feeling fresh after camp and that Week 1 and looking forward to having them here at home.”

The Bombers’ three byes come at interesting times this season. The Week 2 break means the club will now play 11 straight games before their next break, following the Banjo Bowl in September. And their last bye comes in the final week of the regular season.

Asked if he thought the first bye might leave them a little rusty, Harris said:

“I don’t think so. We had a good training camp, a good Week 1 and today the execution was great. You always look to how you respond on Day 1 and today we were flying around and feeling pretty good.”

EXUMÉ EXCELLENT:

We told the story of Kerfalla Exumé’s excellent CFL debut on Friday and the rookie defensive back was a popular player with the media after practice on Sunday following his five special teams tackles against B.C.

“He must have done something right… his parents are in town for this game, so he met their standards,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea with a grin.

“Five special team tackles in his rookie debut is pretty special. You don’t want to limit a kid, but that will be tough to keep that up for the season, that’s for sure. He plays special teams with a very high level of understanding of what it takes and how to do it right. That’s where he’s going to carve his niche out to start. It was a great way to start. There was a lot of ribbing from his teammates about that kind of stuff, but they’re all very proud. I don’t think they were surprised at all, it’s not something you see all the time.

“Athletically he’s a good enough athlete to execute what we need him to execute and then obviously he’s coachable. Having Byron Archambault as the special teams coordinator there (at Montreal) – who was not only a good linebacker, but a good special teams player himself – has obviously given him a good head start on a lot of other young guys in this league.”

FYI:

LB Kyrie Wilson, who left the win over B.C. after taking a shot to the head, was back at practice on Sunday… OL Pat Neufeld has not yet resumed practising.

“He’s coming,” said O’Shea. “He’s in there every day working and working hard. He’s certainly not getting frustrated with it, which is good because it’s hard to get healthy when you’re frustrated. He’s sticking with the process and still leading in his way in the meeting rooms and making sure the guys are doing well between Marty (Costello, O-line coach) and the veterans. Those guys played well and he’s a part of that.”