Winnipeg Blue Bomber Report Record: 7–11–0

Bomber Report

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Must-heal mode for must-win Bombers

By: Ed Tait

5/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3

‘There’s no way I am going to miss this one. I don’t care if my leg fell out’ -- Adarius Bowman (TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

IT'S an old adage in the CFL when the calendar flips to November and with the playoffs on the horizon: At this time of year, if you're breathing, you're healthy.

And so it went as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers returned to the practice field on Wednesday in advance of this weekend's massive win-or-go-home tilt with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A handful of players were limited in their work day because of an assortment of hurts while Jovon Johnson and Jonathan Hefney both took a pass on the proceedings.

Just try, however, telling any one of the walking wounded they'll have to take a knee on the weekend.

"There's no way I am going to miss this one," said receiver Adarius Bowman, who played spectator last weekend with a sore knee. "I don't care if my leg fell out. I'd play with only one arm because this one is so important.

"It was the hardest thing being here watching (the loss in Montreal) on TV. All I can say now is I'm ready. I'm double-ready than all these guys in here. I don't mean to take anything away from them, but I am s-o-o-o-o ready to get at this."

Bowman was sporting a brace on his knee at practice, but said he'll dump the extra hinge support come Sunday. Johnson, who'll likely be named the Bombers' Most Outstanding Player when the results are released on Wednesday, declared after the proceedings that he'll likely return to the practice field Thursday or Friday.

And there's absolutely no chance in Hades he'll miss Sunday.

"I'm good. Come Sunday I'll be playing," said Johnson. "I wouldn't miss one for anything in the world. These games... this is why you play. And what better team to have it against for us than Hamilton? It's been now or never for awhile and we responded for five weeks and then last week we let everybody down again. I think we'll respond again this week."

Head coach Mike Kelly declared all of his troops healthy and good to go for Sunday, including Michael Bishop. The Bomber starting QB was a full-go at practice on Wednesday, but refused interview requests afterward and headed straight to the trainer's room.

"It's like an infirmary there in the morning when you go in," said Kelly. "But all of them seem to be on track to be ready to go on Sunday and there's a pretty good adrenaline rush that's starting to build up, too, and that always makes injuries go away a little quicker."

Bombers special-teams leader Shawn Gallant, meanwhile, is looking for anybody or anything that could make the knee injury he suffered in the Montreal loss heal a little quicker. After all, the 33-year-old veteran had his whole career flash before his eyes after hobbling to the sidelines last Sunday after a player stepped on the back of his knee.

"I thought I was done for the year. I thought maybe my career was done," said Gallant. "To be honest, I've torn my ACL before, did my meniscus and this hurt worse than anything I've ever had before. But the next day it felt a little bit better and now I'm just hoping.

"Really, what it comes down to right now is I'm hoping for a miracle. This game is big... it'd be hard to miss. I'll try anything right now. If somebody has a magic potion or something I could take, I'm game for it."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2009 C3

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3 Comments

Posted by: bobganason

November 5, 2009 at 11:17 PM

On a another thread fans are discussing trading for Ricky Ray giving away all our best players? Are they nuts? No way. They should work with Bishop and if possible get Glenn if he becomes a free agent. In 2010 our staff should rebuild the offence and if possible get Armstrong down. I mean receivers, offensive line and a good back up QB if Glenn is not available. We missed the boat when Casey Printers became available. As a matter of fact our coaches know how to give away our star players or release them with no value. We are now paying for all our misdeeds. A good offensive line will always open the lanes for RBs to establish the run. Bishop needs a set of 5 speedy receivers with good hands. Example:- Terrence Edwards. How about Armstrong, Edwards, Titus Ryan and Bowman? Bowman is prone to injuries as such we need a few extra receivers.

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Posted by: bobganason

November 5, 2009 at 9:04 PM

Ti Cats DBs are good, specially Tisdale and Thompson. Bishop should think first and throw out of bounce if in tight coverage. They have studied him well and I know all attempts will be made for grabs. Why not Reid or Bernard run the outer route with some legal blocking. They have to run real fast while protecting the ball. I don't feel comfertable with our offensive line. We need atleast three good new offensive lineman to compete for the 2010 TC. That's my openion.

Contain Glenn and do your best to stop the run. Watch the tape on 2008 return Calgary game as to how they contained Glenn. Glenn couldn't pass and we were only able to run the ball until such time Ryan was brought in. Coach Harris could share some of his experience in the past. Our linebackers have to chip in to support the DBs. Doug Brown can lead being very cautious. They are going to come well prepared.

Our receivers should be fast with good hands. Bishop should increase his accuracy by atleast 25%. He should keep his eyes open while being extra vigilant as they are going to apply pressure on him. Further, he should learn to be calm and protect the ball. They will do their best to make him hang on to the ball to make it easy for the DBs to get to the receivers.

This is my two cents worth of openion because I love my team. I know very well that I am nowhere near the abilities of the coaches. Being the last game our playoff hope remains contested.

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Posted by: alwaysablue

November 5, 2009 at 6:38 AM

The past few months there have been intimations that some players are not showing up for games. Hey you sports writers, how about doing some digging,prodding, whatever it takes and let us fans know which guys are doing this. There must be some kind of grapevine, trickle down effect that would keep us abreast of this type of player. Maybe then we can direct our comments to the proper cause of this erratic play. It's not always obvious due to injury,or player shifting re import ratio,etc. THAT would be doing your job instead of stating the obvious.
GO Blue.
alwaysablue