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News July 25, 2024

48-Hour Primer | WPG at TOR

@EdTaitWFC

Tony Jones has lived the nomadic life of a football player for eons now and so he has a full understanding of how this works.

A guy puts often down roots in one place, only to have to start over in a new locale.

Jones has been cut and unemployed before, changed schools and teams before. And every time a player settles into a new locker room the dynamics change, as do the potential opportunities. Yet, when you love what you do, you keep chasing it wherever the next chance comes — in Jones’ case from Butler Community College to Texas Tech to the Iowa Barnstormers as a pro, then the Toronto Argonauts, Edmonton Elks and now the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Jones, 28, saw his first action in blue and gold in last week’s loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and could see his defensive workload increase this Saturday in Toronto against the Argonauts.

“It’s been hard to be patient sometimes, especially having been in the league for 2 1/2-three years,” said Jones in a conversation with bluebombers.com this week. “But I know how it works. You’ve got to come in every day and grind. You’ve got to get into your playbook, know the ins and outs of the call so they can have trust you’re going to get in there and execute the game plan.”

Cut by the Elks on June 2nd, Jones was in Winnipeg less than a week later and has methodically gained the trust of coaches and teammates while wedging his way into the conversation for more defensive snaps. That’s no small thing given he had already missed a good chunk of camp and two preseason games.

“He’s a 100 miles per hour guy. He does everything you ask him to do as fast as he can do it, as hard as he can do it,” said Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger. “His physicality stands out and he’s eager to learn. He didn’t get the full training camp like everybody else, but he’s picked up things quickly.

“He’s a ball player.”

Jones came to the Blue Bombers after playing in all 18 games in Edmonton last year, including five starts. He got caught in the constant roster turnover in the Alberta capital in June, but was eager to again start fresh somewhere new — especially here in Winnipeg.

“Leaving Edmonton, that was a bit of a roller-coaster,” he said. ” It’s never any fun being released from anywhere. But joining a program like Winnipeg and the culture here, I had always heard about the coach and the winning ways here. I was more excited to get out here and be able to play. I knew a lot of players already from my days in Edmonton and the players here accepted me as if I had been here for two years already. It was a good transition.

“Acceptance is a big thing as to why they’ve been successful here. It’s also how they go about business here. When it’s time to lock in, it’s time to lock in. You’ve got to know your playbook and if you’re not prepared or locked in like you’re supposed to be you might not see the field. It’s about accountability. They bring you under your wing and they help you if you have any questions and so it’s very team-based, team-oriented and that’s why they get so much buy-in.

“What I bring is I have a motor. I fly around. I take pride in getting to the ball. I show up every day and let my pads do the talking.”

He did just that in a special teams role against the Riders, so much so that he earned praised in the film room earlier this week for obliterating a Roughrider player on punt team.

“I blew somebody up on specials. I sure did,” he said with a grin. “I wanted to set the tone. I was so fired up to get back out there, especially after having that feeling of getting released. It was the second punt… they ended up shouting me out in the special-teams (meeting) room because it was a big hit. I was so excited to get back out on the field. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

BIGHILL FINED: The CFL issued its weekly discipline report on Thursday Blue Bombers LB Adam Bighill has been fined for his hit on Roughrider QB Shea Patterson on the last play of the game for, as the statement goes ‘for unnecessary roughness for driving Saskatchewan quarterback Shea Patterson into the ground.’

Three players fined after Week 7 games

THIS AND THAT: Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on kick returner Kody Case, who had a 29.0-yard average on three kickoff returns and a 9.6-yard average on seven punt returns in his debut last week and, rightly or wrongly, is having his numbers compared to Janarion Grant:

“We’re missing a score that would change those numbers. He’s quick, he’s got good vision and he’s only been up for a small sample size. He gets a few more reps and I think you’ll start to see that he’s starting to see it better. He’s real quick and he’s got top-end speed and personality-wise he seems to love it. He can thrive in that spot and he knows what he’s supposed to be doing on offence which he has to understand that, too.”

O’Shea when asked about Lucky Whitehead and whether he stands:

“I thought he had a good week this week. We’ll see where we go. He’s getting to the point where he’s going to know enough offence to move him around and we;ll see what the roster holds in store at that point.”

And one more from the boss when asked if Pokey Wilson’s last two weeks — 13 catches for 201 yards followed by two receptions for 48 yards — is ‘the norm for a rookie receiver’:

“It is more the norm, although nobody would like it to be. The exception to that is Dalton Schoen, who seemed to produce and produce and produce as a young guy. If you look at Dalton Schoen and say there’s not many historically like him, you’d say that what Pokey’s season is going to look like is probably more the norm. But a 200-yard game is pretty damn good.”

NO SURPRISE HERE: The Blue Bombers announced Thursday this year’s Banjo Bowl has already sold out. This will mark the 19th consecutive year that game has been a complete sell out with just the inaugural Banjo Bowl, back in 2004, drawing 17,160 at old Canad Inns Stadium.