48-Hour Primer | Week 5: WPG at CAL

A spot no one figured to have stamped on their bingo card three games into the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2025 season: linebacker Kyrie Wilson leading the team in quarterback sacks with a pair of takedowns.

It’s a tasty little statistical nugget to lean into early in the campaign and it would undoubtedly be a helluva story in the unlikely case he’s still leading in that department come November. Or by August, come to think of it.

Still, for right here and right now it also speaks of much more, namely Wilson’s on-field savvy but just as important his offseason perseverance when so many outside of the organization were ready to kick him to the curb following the emergence of Michael Ayers last year and the free-agent signing of Jonathan Jones in the winter.

Yet, there is the 32-year-old vet getting it done in the Blue Bombers stingy defence and arguably playing some of the best ball of his career.

“It’s the same thing we’ve liked (about Wilson) for the last bunch of years — his athleticism, the physical attributes he has, coupled with his generally right,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea after a closed Canada Day practice session. “He’s going to be in the right place at the right time, and he arrives in a hurry. He’s got a little toughness that doesn’t match his demeanour off the field. He’s got a real high level of contact strength, and he arrives with speed and power. Off the field, his demeanour is as just the most pleasant person you’ll ever come across.

“There’s a lot of trust with a guy like Kyrie that he’s going to do the right thing in the offseason. He’s going to always work his hardest for the team and he’s proven that over and over again. The beginning of his career here was a little up and down but he’s developed into a player you can really rely on all the time. Couple that with his athleticism — it’s off the charts.”

That trust is key here, clearly. Wilson’s career has been pockmarked by injuries, with the last full season he played coming in 2019. He played in just eight games last year and the season before that was shortened after he suffered an Achilles injury in 2022 that carried over into 2023.

Going through all that hell would have broken many. But, instead, the Fresno, Ca. product continually attacked his rehab with a gusto and while there may have been dark moments, he never let it show publicly. Even today during a chat with bluebombers.com, he went out of his way to thank every single person in the club’s athletic therapy and strength and conditioning departments.

As for the bad luck…

“Don’t jinx me!!,” he said with a grin. “At the end of the day I’ve got to give it to the one above in God and then for the people around me. I wouldn’t have this positivity or the comfort without all that. This training staff — Al (Couture), Olivia (Friesen), Brayden (Miller), Taylor (Grant), all of them — so many people have been so helpful to get me back on the field. How can you not be thankful for that?

“I’ve said it many times before. I love it here. I love the city. I love the team. I love the coaching staff. I love this whole organization. I was cut before, and they didn’t have to bring me back when they did back in the day. The way I look at it, I’ve been blessed for all the things the Blue Bombers have given me.

“What keeps me at it?” he added. “It’s this team. I look around and I just still wanted to get back out there. It can take a toll sometimes where you think about how long the process (of rehab) can be. But when you’ve got this kind of support system around you, checking on you, it helped keep me going.

“I still wanted to be out here playing and hearing all the fans yelling. I’ve still got a lot of love for this game, man. I don’t know when my time might end in this game but it’s not yet. Not yet.”

FYI: The latest Blue Bombers injury report — coming following a closed practice — now lists RB Brady Oliveira’s game status as ‘questionable.’ Ditto for DT Jake Thomas, who has not practised the last two days due to illness. The depth chart, FYI, will come out sometime on Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s game in Calgary.

O’Shea on the status of Oliveira: “I like to give him some time after practice and the next morning. I know we’ll have to figure that out sooner rather than later but it’s about giving him as much time as we can give him.”

Injury Report: July 1, 2025#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/wKxZlnuHXO

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 1, 2025

CANADIAN CONTENT: It’s not our way as Canadians to boast too much or thump our chests. But this grand ol’ league is special and here’s a wonderful tribute put together by the league:

While we’re at it, a salute to all the Canadians on the Blue Bombers on Canada Day and here’s a reminder of where they come from across this great country:

Manitoba

RB Brady Oliveira, Winnipeg
WR Nic Demski, Winnipeg
DT Collin Kornelson, Winnipeg
LS Mike Benson, Winnipeg

Saskatchewan

OL Pat Neufeld, Regina
LB Lane Novak, Balgonie
DT Tanner Schmekel, Regina
DB Ethan Ball, Regina
DB Josh Hagerty, Regina
OL Ethan Vibert, Regina

Alberta

RB Matthew Peterson, Brooks

Ontario

LB Tanner Cadwallader, Georgetown
FB Michael Chris-Ike, Hamilton
DB Nick Hallett, London
C Chris Kolankowski, Etobicoke
DT Cam Lawson, Caledon
LB Jaylen Smith, Hamilton
DB Jake Kelly, Markham

Quebec

WR Kevens Clercius, Montreal
WR Joey Corcoran, Montreal
LB Shayne Gauthier, Dolbeau-Mistassini
DB Redha Kramdi, Montreal
LS Ian Leroux, Quebec City
DB Enock Makonzo, Lachine

B.C.

OL Tui Eli, Richmond
OL Gabe Wallace, Salmon Arm
WR Gavin Cobb, Victoria

New Brunswick

DT Jake Thomas, Douglas

Other

LB Connor Shay, Danville, CA (father born in PEI)

FIST BUMP: Blue Bombers QB Zach Collaros’ superb performance in last week’s win over Edmonton — 25-of-30 passing for 334 yards with three TDs and no interceptions plus a 13-yard rushing TD — has been duly noted by the folks at Pro Football Focus, who selected him to the Week 4 Honour Roll:

CFL Honour Roll: Cantin-Arku, Collaros, Riders’ O-Line make the grade