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News May 29, 2026

Game Recap | Preseason #2 B.C. 30 Wpg 19

Christian Fredericken led the Blue Bombers in receiving in Friday's preseason loss to the B.C. Lions; photos by Cameron Bartlett

@EdTaitWFC

The dress rehearsals are now done — and with it the official close of training camp — and when the curtain comes up again for our next look at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers it will very much be for real.

No more second chances without consequences and no more understudies taking centre stage while the stars step away from the spotlight.

The Blue Bombers wrapped up their 2026 preseason with a 30-19 loss to the B.C. Lions in front of 26,269 on a steamy Friday night at Princess Auto Stadium in a game missing a ton of regulars from both squads but not lacking for its own eyebrow-raising moments.

That was by design, certainly, for a Blue Bombers coaching and management staff still needing to evaluate players both on the bubble or competing for starting gigs. Thus, the decision to NOT dress the likes of — inhale here — quarterback Zach Collaros, running back Brady Oliveira, receivers Nic Demski, Pokey Wilson, Tim White and Tommy Nield, offensive linemen Stanley Bryant, Jarell Broxton, Pat Neufeld and Tui Eli, defensive linemen Willie Jefferson, Jake Ceresna and Cam Lawson, linebackers Tony Jones and Kyrie Wilson and defensive backs Evan Holm, Deatrick Nichols, Redha Kramdi and Jonathan Moxey.

The natural next question here — after taking a moment to exhale — is just who the heck did dress against the Lions and who stood out?

We’ll get to that in a bit, but first this to the point summation from head coach Mike O’Shea:

“We’ve got a lot of good film to watch and probably some tough decisions to make.”

So, in that sense, it’s mission accomplished.

“You just try leave everything you have out there,” said receiver Christian Fredericksen, who led the club with six receptions for 79 yards. “There’s no promises of any more practices or any more games.

“Going to day to day, I didn’t want to have any regrets on how everything was handled. You have regrets with outcomes; I just didn’t want to have any regrets with the process and with that I’ll be able to keep my head up and be OK with it all.

“I do think I gave them a little more to think about after the first preseason game. I hope so, at least.”

The Blue Bombers now have six days to prepare for next Friday’s season opener in Calgary against the Stampeders. That will begin in earnest with practice on Monday, but the next step leading up to that will be the roster shaping.

Final cutdown is 10 p.m. Saturday with the 45-man roster not officially official until the first depth chart comes out which, in the Blue Bombers case, will be next Thursday. Teams will also declare their 12-man practice roster.

Some notes and quotes from the Blue Bombers final preseason game from our view in the press box…

THE ARMS IN THE BULLPEN

With Collaros not dressing the Blue Bombers opted to start rookie Canadian Taylor Elgersma and, in arguably the most important development of the night from a Winnipeg perspective, he took a step forward from his debut performance last week in Saskatoon.

He looked comfortable in the pocket, delivered strikes and finished the night by completing 11-of-20 passes for 127 yards — those numbers would have been better if not for an almost-catch by Dorian Singer on a deep ball — while rushing for a TD in three quarters of work.

One of his highlight throws was a connection with Singer for a picturesque throw to the sideline for 15 yards on the opening drive that set up his own score.

“I felt comfortable, I was seeing it well,” Elgersma said. “Obviously there were a couple that were close — we were almost hitting on big plays and almost extending drives further and putting points on the board. I did a better job of eliminating turnover-worth plays and trying to get the ball in our guys’ hands. They did a great job around me today — the O-line did a great job with the pocket, receivers did a great job taking underneath throws and converting them for first downs. Those are all things that last week we learned lessons on and I learned lessons on and we’ll try to be better next week.”

Elgersma, who was frustrated after his work in Saskatoon in the first preseason game, used the last few days to reset and reload.

“That’s always how football always is, but especially at the quarterback position,” he said. “You have to be hard on yourself. You have to be your toughest critic if you want to get better, but you also have to be able to flush it and come to work the next day and compete. We did a good job of that all week at practice. That was the mindset all this week, too — it’s about getting better and there were definitely plays right now that I’m thinking I want back. You’re going to think about them, come tomorrow to work and get better.

Bryce Perkins entered the game in the fourth quarter and had his moments, too, especially when his protection up front left him vulnerable and he was able to use his escapability to extend drives.

Perkins finished 6-of-9 for 48 yards while rushing for seven times for a team best 36 yards and a late score. That drive — Winnipeg’s last of the night — saw him lead the team on an 11-play journey that was capped by his own touchdown.

“It was good to get out there for the last game and then it will be about watching film and growing from it,” Perkins said. “It was good to get that last drive touchdown.

“… There are definitely some nuances (to the Canadian game) and these last two weeks has been good in understanding and seeing it and Tommy (Condell, offensive coordinator) does a great job on the headset, too. I’m 29, so I’ve been playing this game down south for a long time. A lot of those things are natural so you’re kind of feeling like a blank slate when it comes to a game like that.”

We’re going to be generous with the descriptor ‘key moment’ here because, well, it’s preseason and none of this will be of any consequence then the real games begin next week.

So, let’s call this instead a ‘cool moment’ and it came in the first quarter when veteran kicker Sergio Castillo bombed a 61-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar and through.

And, while we’re at it, finding a key stat in a game where the result makes about as much sense as — to borrow an old phrase from the Maritimes — burning down a house to get the flies out of the kitchen.

But we will proceed with this: Winnipeg finished the preseason 0-2 and that means absolutely, positively nothing when the ball is put on the tee for real next Friday.

The Blue Bombers open the 2026 season on the road next Friday, June 5th, in Calgary against the Stampeders with an 8 p.m. CDT start time.