The Blue Bombers host the Elks Thursday at Princess Auto Stadium; photos by Cameron Bartlett
It seems like it’s been a bit — some 13 days and counting now — since we last had eyes on the work-in-progress that is the 2026 edition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Yes, that disappointing home opening loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats feels like an eternity ago, what with the bye week in between and Thursday’s meeting with the Edmonton Elks at Princess Auto Stadium now on the horizon.
And it now sets up an intriguing matchup with the Blue Bombers at 1-1 and the surging Elks unbeaten in their first two starts.
“This is a bounce back game for us,” said veteran Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson. “We had some time off during the bye week, watched the film from the Hamilton game and made some corrections. We’re going to come out for another home game and try to set the tone.
“You can see what we have from the first two games. We’ve got some good players. Now it’s about executing. Last game, the offence did what they had to do; defence we’ve just got to get off the field on second downs and limit the explosions.”
BLUE BOMBERS (1-1) vs. ELKS (2-0)
Kickoff: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. CDT; Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg
TV/Streaming: TSN; CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB; Play-by-play: Derek Taylor/analyst: Doug Brown
Environment Canada weather forecast: Sunny with a high of 25C; Clear overnight with a low of 14C
PlayNow odds: The Blue Bombers are favoured by three.
Jefferson touched on an important point here — for as much as the Blue Bombers have been the picture of stability and continuity for the better part of a decade, no team is immune to change and the starting lineup here features eight new faces, or a third of the starting 24 on offence and defence.
That group includes receivers Tim White and Tommy Nield, centre Tyler Elsbury and right tackle Jarell Broxton on offence along with tackle Jake Ceresna, end Kydran Jenkins and cornerbacks Major Williams and Jonathan Moxey on the other side of the ball.
Expecting that to morph instantly without some issues — as we certainly saw in the loss to Hamilton — is a tall ask.
“Even when you play with someone for years there can still be some communication issues. That’s football,” explained Moxey. “Nothing is stagnant in the CFL. While things are happening there are changes in formations and we played a really good team in our last game in Hamilton with a great offensive mind in Scott Milanovich. We’ll just continue to work at it and right now we’re getting ready for Edmonton.
“There’s a new roster every year with every team and when you have new people, you’ve got to give them time to integrate. You don’t know if that’s going to be by Week 1, Week 10 or Week 18. All you can do is take it one step at a time, continue to work to get to know each other and continue to mesh. We’re still so early in the year.
“It’s Week 3. We’ll be all right.”
CORRALLING RANKIN
It’s an ugly number — 171 — and it’s been eating away at the Blue Bombers defence over the last few weeks. Winnipeg has surrendered 171 yards rushing in each of its first two games after finishing third against the run last year in yielding just 94.1 yards.
“For me, it’s more about how those yards come,” said defensive coordinator Jordan Younger earlier this week. “I don’t like the explosive runs. The anticipated runs, when we know we need to stop them, we anticipate what they’ve done, we practiced against it, and for whatever reason, we don’t see the information that will help us, or we don’t make the tackle right there to help us get off the field — that’s the part I think I get a little more frustrated with, more so than the number (of rushing yards).”
FLASHES ON ‘O’
Winnipeg’s offence has flashed an intriguing mix in its 1-1 start, from Brady Oliveira rushing for over 100 yards in the win in Calgary in Week 1, to Zach Collaros throwing for over 400 yards for the fifth time in his career in the loss to Hamilton.
Somewhere in there is the perfect blend for a Blue Bombers attack that has averaged 409 yards in its first two games under new offensive coordinator Tommy Condell. Earlier this week he told bluebombers.com he’s been happy with the team’s fast starts, it’s second-down conversion rate and pass protection.
Asked how he manages expectations — and everyone expects this offence to be vastly improved this year — he offered this:
“It’s kind of like Groundhog Day every day where we willingly dive into the minutiae — whatever that may be — on how we get incrementally better. It’s those one percent gains. This is a journey and we have to commit to being the best version of ourselves as we’re doing that. The expectations for us are so high as coaches and players, we don’t often get involved in that. It’s more, ‘Hey, let’s correct this; let’s get better at that.’
“It’s not managing expectations from anybody on the outside, it’s about getting incrementally better daily.”
THE REBORN ELKS
We knew going into the season that the West Division was going to be a slobber-knocker battle from June till November. And to see the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders at 2-0, even with all their changes over the winter, is hardly shocking.
The Blue Bombers, at 1-1, aren’t really a surprise either after last year’s 10-8 finish and some significant upgrades to their roster. Yet, to see both the Stampeders and B.C. Lions at 0-2 and the Elks also unbeaten at 2-0, well, those are eyebrow raisers.
The Elks are now looking to start 3-0 for the first time since 2017 when they busted out of the starting blocks to a 7-0 start and 12-6 record overall.
“Cody Fajardo has been at it a long time and he’s a proven winner in this league,” said Moxey of the Elks QB. “And they’ve got Rankin who is an elite, elite, elite running back. We’re getting ready for that challenge. I know Mark Killam (Elks head coach) will have those guys fired up. I know him from his time in Calgary and I know his guys will play hard for him.”
THE LINEUP: The Blue Bombers have made just one change to their depth chart from the game against Hamilton with Canadian linebacker Jaylen Smith back in for rookie linebacker Brody Clark, who moves to the six-game injured list.
Of note, QB Dru Brown, who was acquired last Tuesday afternoon from the Ottawa RedBlacks, will not be in the lineup against Edmonton, leaving Taylor Elgersma and Bryce Perkins as the two pivots listed behind Collaros.
