Poblah out 2 games and maybe more

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2011 (5482 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HE was the blue-chip prospect, the one player members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers brain trust was most excited to see when training camp opened in June.

But three months later and in the midst of an injury-plagued season, the Bombers are still waiting to see what wide receiver Kito Poblah can really do. And they might be waiting a long time yet.

Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice announced Thursday that Poblah will miss at least the next two games with an unspecified shoulder injury and there are hints that the situation might even be more serious than that, as Bombers management dodges any attempt to pin down exactly what is wrong with the first overall pick in the 2011 CFL supplemental draft.

Here’s what we do know: After playing one-half of football in Week 1, Poblah hurt his knee and then spent the next seven weeks on the sideline.

And then, just as he was about to come back off the nine-game injury list, the Bombers decided to reactivate him early for the Labour Day game, a decision which meant they had to count his whole salary for the first half of the season against their cap.

That decision looked brilliant at first, as Poblah caught nine passes in Regina and was the lone offensive bright spot on a day when the Bombers offence mustered just two field goals and a single in a 27-7 loss.

But then in the Banjo Bowl, Poblah registered just one catch for 10 yards and coughed up the ball for a gift-wrapped Riders interception. And then he also somehow hurt himself that game — LaPolice said Thursday he wasn’t even aware Poblah was injured until long after the game was over.

And so after all that, an already under-performing Bombers offence is once again scrambling to replace Poblah. Their first choice is Aaron Hargreaves, who filled in capably — if unspectacularly — earlier in the season. But Hargreaves is still nursing a sore ankle and the majority of first-team reps went to raw rookie Jade Etienne in practice on Thursday.

LaPolice said Hargreaves will definitely be on the roster Sunday, just maybe not as a starter.

— — —

Defensive back Jonathan Hefney (bruised quadricep) didn’t practise again on Thursday, but LaPolice said he likely will today. And slotback Terrence Edwards, who is also nursing a bruised quadricep, took off the second half of practice but is expected back today, LaPolice said.

The Bombers aren’t only ones with injuries, right now.

Word out of Montreal Thursday is that Als LB Shae Emry (concussion) and DB Dwight Anderson (hip) both remain questionable for Sunday. Montreal head coach Marc Trestman put Anderson’s chances of playing at 50-50.

— Wiecek