Nic Demski looks around at the faces staring back at him in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive huddle and sees a mix of star power and potential, of proven winners and new faces ready to take that proverbial next step.
And it’s the same all over the Blue Bombers roster as this club stepped onto the field for the first time late Wednesday morning in their season-opening bye week and began to get a feel for what they have just four days removed from the roster cutdown on the weekend.
“We’ve got a good team,” said Demski, the Blue Bombers homegrown star receiver. “I have no doubt that this front office can put together a squad that competes every year. When you have so much positive turnover from year to year with guys wanting to come back and the guys that they bring in… it’s an awesome sight to see when you come back out here and you get a bye week practising and guys are excited to be out here, guys are excited to be around each other, guys are excited to get that work in.
“We’ve definitely got talent here. We’ve just got to get out here, keep grinding and when our time is ready to go for Week 2 and all the anxiety wears off, we’ll be good to go to go out there and compete.”
The Blue Bombers aren’t currently the predominant favourite they have been over the last few years, a stretch that has included five consecutive Grey Cup appearances with victories in 2019 and 2021, but losses in the last three visits.
Gone are Kenny Lawler, Tyrell Ford, Pokey Wilson, Liam Dobson, Drew Wolitarsky and others. In their place are new names like James Vaughters, Jerreth Sterns, Dillon Mitchell, Reggie White, Jr. and Jonathan Jones while the likes of Keric Wheatfall, Marquise Bridges and Jamal Parker, Jr. all seem ready to take on increased workloads.
Plus, there are the returns to health of key starters like Cam Lawson and Dalton Schoen.
“Seven years here… I’ve definitely seen a lot of faces come and go but I’ve also seen a lot of the same faces, as well. You battle both feelings,” said Demski. “You make a lot of core relationships here — especially since this is such a family-oriented locker room and everybody gets along in that way. It’s always hard seeing guys leave, but it’s new opportunities for guys to come in as well. I just try to be a good, positive role model and a good, positive leader and try to get these guys all on the same page to make everybody’s job easier.
“… That’s the positive of having a Week 1 bye: you get time to mesh with everybody and see who is going to step up into their roles. There’s still guys who I haven’t named who are still learning their roles, still learning the playbook, still learning the way we do things around here. I’m excited for all the newcomers.”
More notes and quotes after Wednesday’s bye week practice in this week’s Need to Know…
TO-DO: Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on what he wanted the coaches and squad to get done during the bye week:
“Not short-change it. The idea that we just want to get to a game and get it played — we’ve got lots of time and lots of work left to be done. So, what we really want to do is not short-change the time we have and be so fired up about getting to the game that we miss these opportunities to get better and we’ve got a lot to work to get better.”
And asked what he liked about the team after the cut-down on Saturday, he added:
“A lot of good football players. We watched the tape again and we realized we released a lot of good football players, too. I like our group, and I like some of the pieces we’ve added in terms of their experience, their football IQ, their desire to go play good football. I like the attitude we’re carrying in and out of practice.”
FYI: Limited or not practising on Wednesday were: OL Stanley Bryant and Eric Lofton, RB Brady Oliveira, QB Chris Streveler, DBs Josh Hagerty, Ethan Ball and Jake Kelly, LB Shayne Gauthier and RB/KR Peyton Logan.
THE SHUTTLE BUS: O’Shea on RB Quinton Cooley — the rookie American running back who shone in the preseason and was added to the practice roster — and why he was kept around knowing that Oliveira, a Canadian, would be the team’s feature back:
“Did you see him play? You’ve just got to keep a guy like that. He’s as physical as they come. He went out and did everything we wanted him to do and more. What h put on tape and standing there on the sidelines and (seeing) the excitement he generated in the limited action he got was terrific. So, you’ve got to find a way to keep a guy like that and see where you can slot him in.”
QB1 SAYS: Zach Collaros from his post-practice media session on Wednesday:
