Quick hitters from a breezy walk through in Bomberland:

• All kinds of roster changes (once again) for the Blue and Gold. DB Donald Brown Jr. appears out of nowhere to land on the 46-man roster, but he will not dress. OL Andre Douglas and DE Deji Oduwole are in, as is KR Chris Garrett – who arrived in town earlier this week. WR Jamayel Smith is out.

• The other scratches are DT Moton Hopkins, OL Chris Greaves, and, wait for it…RB Yvenson Bernard.

• Man, how’d you like to be Bernard right now? He waits all season to play, listens to how the coaching staff loves him, only to watch Garrett move past him and into a game after THREE practices. For a team that needs a play-maker (WR Terence Jeffers-Harris is still a couple weeks away), wouldn’t Bernard be worth a look?

• There’s something to be said about a new regime wanting to see what their own guys can do, I guess. I mean, the reason for the Bernard ratio crunch comes from the fact the team has two American O-linemen. Simple math: If the team starts another Canadian in the trench, then they can add an import weapon somewhere else. Have to wonder why the new Bombers regime is so reluctant to break with this typical CFL formula?
• The club placed QB Buck Pierce on the nine-game injured reserve, which pretty much closes the door on his season. Pierce can come off the nine-game at some point (the team is allowed to take a player off the list in the second half of the schedule), but unless his dislocated elbow makes some considerable strides in the coming weeks, the odds of him coming back are slim.
• On that note, let’s not forget this: It’s his throwing arm. Even if he does get back to the field, the Bombers need to see that he can still fling it with the same zip he had before. Winnipeg has a legitimate CFL throwing offence now; not the run-first, run-second grinder of 2009.
• Finally, Winnipeg (2-7) needs this game bad – no other way to put it. Here’s a stat: The last time the Bombers lost five in a row was 1999 – when Dave Ritchie dropped seven straight en route to a 6-12 record and an early start to his Christmas shopping. Another loss Sunday pushes the current slide to six games, with a road game at Toronto (the Bombers are winless with the suitcase) and at home against Montreal on the horizon. Oh boy.