Blue Bombers Training Camp Report | Day 7

There have been so many moments over the last year where Myron Mitchell could have taken a knee, raised up his personal white flag and walked away from the game for good.

Professional football can be a tough business, after all, and there have certainly been occasions since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver first set foot in Manitoba last year for him to be teased by instant success and then overwhelmed by its brutal frustrations.

Mitchell, you may recall, dressed for the first two games of the 2024 season and was on the roster four times over the first six weeks. He was then moved to the practice roster and waited and waited and waited for another opportunity that never came no matter how hard he practised or how many hours he spent in the film room.

“If I could go back to last year, I would tell myself to learn more, to stay longer, to understand what (former offensive coordinator) Buck Pierce was seeing and what he wanted to see from me,” began Mitchell in a chat with bluebombers.com. “It would be about taking full responsibility for my role with the team last year.

“I just wanted to be on the field and from the coaching standpoint they felt like I wasn’t ready. Comparing this year to last year I can now see that I wasn’t ready. I got into my book a little more coming into this year and came back in great shape. I feel like I took a tremendous leap from last year.”

Indeed, it would seem the dividend for that sweat equity is now paying off for Mitchell, who has easily been one of the offensive stars through the first week of Blue Bombers training camp. The 26-year-old Jasper, Alabama product has been working with Zach Collaros and the starters since Day 1 and in every session he’s made at least one eye-popping play.

He praised Lucky Whitehead, who parachuted in last year and ultimately took his spot as a receiver/returner, for helping him better understand the CFL game and, specifically, how receivers need to work at their craft, learn defences and how to attack them.

All that said, Mitchell deserves fist bumps and back slaps for his own perseverance.

“Everybody in the organization watched him work last year and liked him because of his work rate,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s the attitude he has — he’s always working, always smiling, he loves being out there. No matter what his role is, he just loves it.”

Mitchell came to the Blue Bombers with some pro experience, first signing with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2021 after his days at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and dressed for one game. He was also part of the Birmingham Stallions USFL championship team in 2023.

Those experiences also prepared him for what he saw in the offseason with the Blue Bombers, as Kenny Lawler and Drew Wolitarsky left — potentially opening the door for him — and then the club stockpiled receivers with CFL experience in Dillon Mitchell, Reggie White, Jr. and Jerreth Sterns.

“Oh, I definitely saw that, and I can’t say that it didn’t affect me at the time,” he admitted. “But at the end of the day we all have to come out here and still compete. We’ve all got to come out and know our jobs and our assignments.

“I just reminded myself, ‘If you come out and work hard every day and show the coaches and your teammates that you can do it and are willing to do it, they’ll trust in you.’ All I can do is my job. Thats all I can control and then I leave the rest up the coaches.

“A lot of this just comes from trusting the coach, Mike O’Shea. He’s a great guy. He was always in my ear, ‘Keep working hard. It’ll come.’ At the end of the day, I put my trust into him and my own work and my own process. It’s put me in a pretty good position going into this season.

“I feel like I know the offence like the back of my hand. This year it feels like I’m supposed to be here. I feel great.”

FYI: Notes from Saturday and Day 7 of Blue Bombers training camp…

-Not practising were OL Eric Lofton, DBs Jamal Parker, Jr. and Josh Hagerty, DT Jake Thomas, WR Dalton Schoen and DT Cameron Lawson. Returning to work were WR Kody Case and DE Kemari Munier-Bailey.

-WR/KR Peyton Logan has been moved to the one-game injured list, meaning he would miss the season opener.

-Gabe Wallace and Tui Eli continue to share reps at guard, with Kendall Randolph at Lofton’s right tackle spot. Tanner Schmekel saw an increased workload at DT with Thomas and Lawson sidelined.

-The receivers continuing to get the most work with Collaros and Canadian starters Nic Demski and Kevens Clercius have been Myron Mitchell, as outlined above, along with Sterns, White, Jr, and Keric Wheatfall.

Asked for his assessment of Dillon Mitchell, O’Shea offered this:

“(He’s) learning a new system. Tall guy, moves around well. For any of those new guys who are coming into our building from a different program, there is a different way of doing things. There’s a lot they have to learn — a new playbook, all those things. All the guys we signed are starting to move around and look different and starting to figure out how they fit.”

COMINGS/GOINGS: The Blue Bombers added three and released two on Saturday. Coming aboard are DE Phillip Webb (6-5, 265, Jackson State) and two OL in Tyler Elsbury (6-5, 312, Iowa) and Brayden Keim (6-8, 322, BYU) while two OL were released in Chris Walker and Matt Kickel.

-Webb was recently in minicamp with the Miami Dolphins and spent the last two years at Jackson State, suiting up for 25 games and registering 35 defensive tackles, 16 tackles for losses, six sacks, two passes defended and a fumble recovery. Before coming to the JSU he played in three games at LSU in 2021.

-Elsbury recently attended minicamp with the Seattle Seahawks after playing in 50 games, six of them starts, during his days with the Hawkeyes.

-Keim, who made 19 starts at BYU and was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention last season, comes to the club after being invited to minicamps with both the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears.

O’Shea on the scouting and coaching staff working in concert to make sure they see as many prospects as they can during a camp:

“(The scouting staff has) a list of guys they’re always talking to or who they like who are on our neg list (their CFL rights owned by the Blue Bombers). Guys become available at different times and so it may seem like it’s not great to bring a guy in after six days of camp or they miss rookie camp and don’t have that foundation. But depending on the position and the guy they can pick it up very quickly and the coaches understand they’ve got to have a certain structure in place where a new guy can learn and quickly take the field and not be totally out of place.

“That department’s job is to look to make us better always.”

NEXT: Sunday’s practice goes from 8:30 a.m. -11:35 a.m. at Princess Auto Stadium. All sessions, unless otherwise indicated, are open to the public.