These are the days and weeks that seem to matter most in the Canadian Football League. The frost is on the pumpkin, as the old saying goes, or as Drew Wolitarsky put it so vividly recently, this is the time of year where the ‘geese start making the V’s and leaving.’
To hammer that home, there’s this: the 110th Grey Cup goes in 34 days at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
“We always talk about wanting to be playing our best football come November and as this back third of the season starts to develop, you’re looking at solidifying a playoff spot,” began veteran linebacker Adam Bighill as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers returned to practice on Tuesday. “So, this is the next game, but every game has more meaning because of the situation.
“This game is the most important game of the year so we can get to what we want to get to – we’ve got to check another box. We’ve already checked playoffs, we want to check first-round bye and a home playoff game – that’s the next box we’ve got to check, so we’ve got to come in this week as the most important game of the year and handle business.”
A win by the Blue Bombers against the Edmonton Elks at IG Field Saturday night locks up first place in the West Division for a third straight season. That spot could also be locked up through a loss by the B.C. Lions on Friday in their date against the Calgary Stampeders.
Critical now for the Blue Bombers is to find that same magic they had at the end of their win over the Lions prior to the bye week, a 34-26 road victory over the Lions in which they rallied from a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes remaining.
First place and a first-round bye offers so many perks, as spelled out perfectly by Bighill.
“It gives our team the flexibility to make all the roster choices needed to give guys extra rest and freshen up whoever we need to freshen up and make sure we can start prepping as a team ahead of time, start breaking down film of the other opponents we could be facing in the West Final,” he said. “It just gives you a lot more flexibility in planning ahead and that’s important because it’s an advantage and you want the advantage. If it’s the smallest of advantages, you still want it. In pro football you’ll take every inch you can get.”
The Blue Bombers’ bye week came following the win over the Lions, a result that left so many physically and emotionally spent. It also offered a valuable reminder to a veteran-laden squad of this group’s ability to rally and believe – a theme that was so raw and emotional immediately afterward.
“I gotta admit, it was just really good to be around that locker room after,” said head coach Mike O’Shea of the win in Vancouver. “To witness it on the sideline and then be in the locker room after for my short period of time and just feel it all with the guys was pretty cool.
“I do think the timing is important. Hopefully you learn lessons all through the season and you are able to draw upon those lessons in the most critical times. I do like the timing of that. It certainly gives the guys a good reason to continue to work through the bye week.”
More on the Blue Bombers return to work in ‘NEED TO KNOW’…
OUCH UPDATE:
Receiver Dalton Schoen was not at practice on Tuesday and is listed on the daily injury report as having an ankle injury.
Asked if he could update anything about Schoen’s situation – he was injured in the win over B.C. and did not finish the game – O’Shea said simply ‘Nope.’
“We’ve got guys who can step in no problem,” O’Shea said. “We do a great job on offence of moving guys around and the players themselves do a great job of making sure they understand whole concepts and not just positional play – they understand the play from all sorts of angles. They’re told that in training camp and they do that. The guys that are here can go in in multiple spots and perform.”
In the meantime, Brendan O’Leary-Orange took a ton of reps in Schoen’s place and the club could also turn to Greg McCrae or Ravi Alston, both currently on the practice roster.
“I’m just going to approach it like I approach every week – go in there with the same type of effort, get my lifts in, go through my same process and not change anything up and just prepare how I’m going to prepare for any other game,” said O’Leary-Orange on the possibility of replacing Schoen.
“At the end of the day you want to prepare for any situation, especially in the situation I’ve been in this year, backing up all five positions. You try and do a lot of studying of all positions and just be ready for any situation.
“… I guess we’ll have to see with what happens to Dalton. At the end of the day, yes, you want to take advantage of every opportunity that you get.”
QB1 SPEAKS:
Zach Collaros also spoke to the media on Tuesday. Here’s that conversation, in full:
WELCOME TO THE CLUB:
Pat Neufeld was back at his right guard spot on Tuesday after missing the win in Vancouver, and he had a damn fine excuse: he and his partner are now the proud parents of their first child, as Halle Katherine Neufeld was born at 8:39 a.m. on October 6th at HSC Women’s Hospital, weighing seven pounds, 12 ounces.
“It’s the best feeling in the world. Becoming a father is unbelievable. Indescribable. It’s the best moment in my life. Joining the ‘Dad Club’ is pretty cool,” said Neufeld after practice.
“It’s awesome to see our team embrace the family atmosphere and let families come on the field and have your kids in the locker room and bring that family feel to the team. It’s a stressful environment but when you have your family watching you it’s pretty cool.”
Neufeld spent the day in the hospital, naturally, and did not miss his teammates dramatic OT win over the Lions.
“That was crazy. I mean, my daughter was 12 hours old, and I was doing everything I could to not scream in the hospital to wake her up,” he said. “The nurse is in there about to give her her first bath and I was pacing around the hospital room watching the game on my iPad. I think I checked my heart rate on my Apple Watch, and it was at 115-120 going into overtime, so it was pretty crazy. Having my daughter there as my good little luck charm for that win was pretty cool.”
FYI:
Asked about the recent release of WR Carlton Agudosi and DB Abu Daramy-Swaray – both of whom were already scooped up by Toronto and Saskatchewan, respectively – O’Shea said the moves were made due to players coming off the injured list and the team needing to take a longer look at some of the new talent brought in during the recent practice roster expansion… One of those players returning is DB Noah Hallett, who has yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury a year ago… Congrats to Blue Bomber alumni Leo Ezerins who, along with Hamilton legend Rocky DiPietro, were named co-winners of the CFL Alumni Association 2023 Alumnus of the Year. The two players will be presented with the award during the Grey Cup Festival next month. Ezerins was a territorial exemption pick of the Blue Bombers in 1978 after playing at Whitworth College and played in 173 CFL games with Winnipeg and Hamilton as a linebacker and tight end.
