Bombers shift O-line ahead of Montreal test

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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive line has been the focus of attention so far this season. (BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

MONTREAL - The revolving door that is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive line continued to turn here Thursday as the Bombers arrived in town in advance of their CFL regular season game Friday night against the Montreal Alouettes.

Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice told reporters at a pre-game news conference Thursday afternoon that offensive lineman Justin Sorenson will replace fellow lineman Chris Kowalczuk at centre for Friday’s game against the Als.

Sorenson has never started a game at centre in his professional career and LaPolice was asked if he was reticent about tossing in yet another first-time starter on an offensive line that already had three of them last week and is the subject of a massive renovation right now because of injuries and off-season changes.

"Part of change is you have to figure out what’s best and certainly those guys (Kowalczuk and Sorenson) were very close in training camp," said LaPolice. "We wanted to get a feel for how Justin will handle the situation."

Kowalczuk had won the starting centre job coming out of training camp but his reign lasted just one game -- a humbling 33-16 defeat to the BC Lions in the regular season opener last Friday that saw the Bombers give up four sacks in the first half and starting tailback Bloi-Dei Dorzon rush for just 4 yards on five carries.

Much of those troubles tracked back to an offensive line that saw offensive tackles Paul Swiston and Jordan Taormina as well as Kowalczuk all making their first ever CFL starts, while guard Chris Greaves was making just his fourth ever start.

The Bombers are hoping that with the switch this week to Sorenson at centre and the return of injured left tackle Glenn January to the lineup, they can plug some holes at the line of scrimmage while opening up others to develop a ground game that was almost completely non-existent against the Lions.

While Sorenson has never before started a game at centre, he played lots of guard and tackle while he was with the BC Lions during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. LaPolice said that the extra in-game experience also helped tip the balance to Sorenson this week.

"We wanted to give him the opportunity after evaluating the film and evaluating all of the week’s practices," said LaPolice.

Bombers QB Buck Pierce seemed to like the switch, even though it will mean he will have to adjust to yet another new player snapping him the ball Friday night.

Pierce was uncomfortable and notably hesitated when a reporter asked him at a downtown Montreal hotel Thursday afternoon if he’d requested the change. "Ultimately," Pierce replied cryptically, "it’s the coach’s decision. They want me to be comfortable and they want me to be able to execute on offence to my full ability. And to make sure the centre and quarterback exchange is first and foremost."

Asked the same question moments later, LaPolice flatly denied Pierce played any role in the switch to Sorenson.

As for Sorenson, he was very matter of fact here today as he discussed his big chance to finally show his stuff as a Bomber. Sorenson was signed by Winnipeg last August, but spent the remainder of the 2011 season on the practice roster.

"I’m just ready to go. We had a good week of practice and we’ll just go out there and do what we do -- block people," Sorenson said.

Earlier Thursday, meanwhile, Montreal linebacker Shea Emry was asked at his team’s media availability if the Montreal defence had anything special in store this week for Pierce, who added last week to his long record of failing to finish games he started because of injuries.

"We’re not trying to take the quarterback out of the game," Emry insisted. "He does have a tendency to go down, but they also have a great backup quarterback (Alex Brink) as you guys have seen before. So that’s not really what’s on my mind -- we’re just concerned with whoever’s in there, making the plays."

Emry, of course, made headlines last Sunday for his late hit on Calgary QB Drew Tate, which led to him being fined by the CFL this week.

FIELDNOTES -- Bombers defensive end Jason Vega, who missed last week’s game against the Lions, is expected to start Friday against the Als.