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June 30, 2022

Need to Know | June 30, 2022

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are entering the most gruelling part of their 2022 schedule and will now embark on the hard slog without one of their most important players.

The club placed slotback Nic Demski on the six-game injured list on Thursday, meaning the team’s Most Outstanding Canadian Player last year will be absent for Monday’s game in Toronto against the Argonauts and, likely, further beyond. The trip to the Big Smoke this weekend starts a stretch for the Blue Bombers where five of their next six games will be on the road, including next week’s quick turnaround that sees the club in Vancouver for a Saturday game after the visit to Toronto.

“Nic’s a big part of our offence, obviously,” said quarterback Zach Collaros after practice on Thursday. “He does a lot of things for us. He’s a great receiver first and foremost, he blocks well and when we hand him the football, he does a lot with it as well. He’s just a physical guy and one of the most unselfish guys I’ve ever played with. He does a lot for us offensively. We’ve got some guys that if given the opportunity I feel will do a great job as well.”

One of those guys is second-year Canadian Brendan O’Leary-Orange, who came off the bench in relief of Demski – who was having a sensational game with six catches for 96 yards in the first half – after he suffered an apparent ankle injury.

“I’m just preparing like I do every single day whether it’s to play receiver, play special teams – whatever the team asks of me,” said O’Leary-Orange, the club’s fourth-round selection, 37th overall, in the 2020 CFL Draft. “It’s obviously a great feeling whenever you get in, whenever you get to catch a pass, contribute, to help out.”

“You try not to let that moment be too big, you try not to get too high, too low… whatever the ups and downs you just try to keep pushing. Keep playing. Keep playing ball. Next play. At the end of the day I just think if you’re ready, you’re going to be ready and if opportunity meets preparation, you should be good.”

Demski’s versatility makes him one of the most valuable weapons in the Blue Bombers offence. He posted a career best 654 yards receiving on 48 catches in just 12 games last year, adding another 87 yards on 12 carries.

O’Leary-Orange is a different target at 6-4, 207 pounds and has shown a knack for making the tough catch in traffic, but also being able to be a downfield home-run threat.

“Brendan does a great job of understanding all the positions,” Collaros said. “He really studies hard and really loves the game of football first and foremost and as a quarterback you really appreciate that. He has all the tangible gifts – he can run, he’s got great ball skills, he can YAC (get yards after the catch).

“He does a great job, and the guys are confident with him being out there and I am as well.”

More from the Blue Bombers return to the practice field on Thursday in preparation for Monday’s visit to Toronto to face in this week’s NEED TO KNOW

MORE FROM COLLAROS ON DEMSKI… as the QB couldn’t have been more praiseworthy of the Manitoba Bisons/Oak Park High School product.

“He’s a great teammate, he’s a great person,” said Collaros. “He doesn’t care if he has one catch or 10 catches or how many carries. He wants to go out there and win football games. He’s a big part of the makeup of this team. We all love him.”

Collaros took this one step further, revealing that during the playoffs and Grey Cup Demski was playing hurt but still doing everything he could to help his team – including scoring a critical TD in the championship game.

“He finished the season, the last three-four weeks, with broken ribs or whatever he had going on and he’s still out there coming across the line of scrimmage and blocking defensive ends, selling out, chipping there,” said Collaros. “The last one Darvin (Adams) caught (a TD in overtime) he chipped the end and fell to his knees. Before that he got a dig (route) and scored a touchdown… he was playing with broken ribs the entire playoffs and you would have never really known because he didn’t complain about it. He goes out there and does his job. That’s the kind of person he is.”

NEW BLUE BLOOD: The Blue Bombers’ OL depth has been stretched in the last couple of weeks with both C Michael Couture and practice roster OL Cameron Durley being injured. To that end the club added two American OL on Thursday in Ryan Nelson and Tyler Witt.

Nelson (6-6, 331) joins the club after a four-year career with the University of Virginia Cavaliers where he started 49 straight games beginning in 2018.

Witt (6-2, 305) arrives after one season with the Purdue Boilermakers and the previous three with Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Witt started 25 games during his days at Western Kentucky and, after transferring, was named the Boilermakers top offensive lineman.

The club also announced that 6-6 receiver Carlton Agodusi, injured during training camp, had been added to the practice roster. He practised on Thursday.

FYI: The Blue Bombers had a few days away from the practice field after last week’s win over Hamilton – but that didn’t mean the clubhouse was empty.

“Any time the players can get a break, especially mentally, and move away from the game a little bit that’s always positive,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “There wasn’t a day where the locker room wasn’t just teeming with guys that were working out or running. I imagine they managed to keep their edge.”… Demski’s move to the six-game injured list means he joins centre Michael Couture, safety Brandon Alexander and dime back Mercy Maston – all starters – as out of action for long spells. Also on the six-game are LB Jesse Briggs, S Noah Hallett, QB Dakota Prukop and OL Drew Richmond.

CONGRATS TO: Blue Bombers Assistant GM/Director of U.S. Scouting Danny McManus on the announcement this week he would be the 25th inductee to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Wall of Honour.

McManus began his CFL career with the Blue Bombers in 1990, and was part of the Grey Cup championship team that year. He left for the B.C. Lions in 1993 and helped the Leos win a title in 1994. He then spent two years with the Edmonton Eskimos before joining the Ticats in 1998. Over the next eight years McManus would enjoy his best CFL seasons, leading the Ticats to the 1999 Grey Cup – he was the MVP in that game – capping a year in which he was also named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.

A member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, McManus holds Ticat franchise records in passing yards, touchdowns, completions and attempts. One of the CFL’s true good guys, McManus will be formally inducted on October 7th when the Ticats host Saskatchewan.