Blue Bombers Training Camp | Day 16

It had been a while for Major Williams since he last got to do his thing on a football field — some 274 days, to be exact — with thousands of miles and an international border in between.

So, while Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on the weekend was a long way from his last action as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs in their final preseason game last August 22nd at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the sights and sounds and the pure rush of getting down to business again was energizing for the 24-year-old cornerback trying to land a roster spot — and possibly a starting gig — with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“Saturday was great, amazing, as my first CFL preseason game,” Williams told bluebombers.com after practice on Monday. “It was nice to get the nerves out of the way early with the first special teams rep. I was tingling a little bit at kickoff because it’s been a while since I played. But practice prepared me for that moment.

“It was fun. It was exciting, a lot of energy and I got to compete and take guys fully to the ground. The adrenaline as definitely running. Those kind of opportunities don’t come too often and being with the Blue Bombers right now is very special to me. I’m just trying to make the most of every play. The game is a little bit different, but football is never really going to change that much — it’s always about the ball.”

Williams continues to emerge as one of the main contenders for the starting cornerback spot opposite Jonathan Moxey with Ridge Texada and Warren Burrell, and had a pair of tackles in the preseason loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“I’ve had a decent camp. There’s always room for improvement, but this week is all about finishing,” said Williams. “Everybody is beat up, not just me. But now we’ve got to dig deep and find it. This week is definitely crunch time. It’s a week to make plays and try to be perfect. It’s about trusting the training and finishing.”

The Fort Myers, Fla. product was added to the Blue Bombers practice roster early last October for a quick look-see and then spent the winter in his own crash course of the CFL game.

“Just being around the guys last year, being on the practice squad and then see how the guys take the learning from the film room to the field was very big,” he said. “It was about understanding 12 men on both sides, about personnel. It’s a unique game from down south.

“I watched a lot of CFL over the winter. I went back and watched Grey Cup games, a lot of 2025 games. I even went back and watched Coach JY (Jordan Younger) from his Toronto days — just to get some more background knowledge. I watched a lot of training camp videos to prepare my mind and my heart to come out here and be the best version I can.”

He also watched a ton of film of a former Blue Bombers cornerback who took a similar path — Dee Alford, now of the Buffalo Bills.

“I watched a lot of Dee Alford. I played Division II football like him and was in the same conference as him — SAC (South Atlantic Conference). He’s one of the guys the SAC conference promotes,” Williams said.

“He’s a D2 guy, I’m a D2 guy. He played for the Blue Bombers; I’m with Blue Bombers. He’s a DB, I’m a DB. I’ve really studied him and tried to see what he did.

“It would be something do be able to dominate the way he did. That would be amazing. But I’m also big on being myself. He’s someone to look up to as a role model.

“Still, though, right now it’s about being where my feet are at and I love being at Princess Auto Stadium.”

THE COACH SAYS: Mike O’Shea met with the media following practice on Monday. The full session can be seen here:

A couple highlights:

• Asked about Taylor Elgersma’s performance on Saturday, he reiterated what he said post-game:

“He has a very good understanding of the offence. He speaks the game well. He’s a football junkie and he wants to make big plays. That’s youthful exuberance.”

We spoke of how hard Elgersma was on himself immediately after the game — that story can be found here — and O’Shea was asked about his message to the rookie QB afterward about enjoying the moment.

“The nature of the business, these guys put a lot of pressure on themselves. That’s the nature of pro sport,” O’Shea said. “Having been through it, you realize they have to take a moment and enjoy themselves. But after a tough outing like that, you’re going to be hard on yourself.

“You don’t get to this position, you don’t get to run a huddle and take the snaps under centre in a pro offence unless you’re hard on yourself. At some point they’ve got to smile and enjoy themselves, too.”

• On receiver Dorian Singer, who also made an impression in the kick return game with Trey Vaval currently on the shelf:

“I liked him on offence, and I liked his return game. I thought he provided a spark for us. Unfortunately, Trey’s not practising right now so we’ve got to get guys in and see what they can do. If you’re able to execute on the offensive side and you’ve got return ability it’s obviously a positive.”

NOTABLE: Not practising on Monday were SB Nic Demski, Vaval, OL Pat Neufeld, CB Jonathan Moxey, OL Stanley Bryant, WR Kevens Clercius… The club made some roster moves, bringing back DT Arnold Young and Michael Fletcher and receiver Kenneth Womack while releasing two DBs in Shyheim Battle and Robert Javier… There was a bit of a skirmish at practice when OL Kendall Randolph and DB Deatrick Nichols went after it… O’Shea on whether the club might consider bringing in a fourth quarterback after both Terry Wilson and Payton Thorne left last week: “We haven’t talked about it, really. We want to see the guys perform in this game.”

NEXT: Tuesday’s practice time is 9:05-11:45 a.m.