Richards sidelined for good

By: Jason Bell Posted: 10:49 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017

Oft-injured receiver Addison Richards has called it a career. The 23-year-old Winnipeg Blue Bomber officially announced his retirement Tuesday from the CFL after spending just three years with the team.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/08/2017 (3314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He was originally drafted in 2015 in the second round (11th overall) of the CFL draft and played just five games that season, hauling in his first and only career catch for 12 yards in a game against the Calgary Stampeders.

Hamstring and quadriceps injuries initially plagued his rookie campaign, and the former standout at the University of Regina had hip surgery to end the season.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSBombers quarterback Matt Nichols gets off a throw Tuesday at Investor's Group Field.

A year later, he missed the first six games of the season and then appeared in 12 games, primarily as a special teams player.

This summer, he suffered an injury to his right knee in training camp and had yet to dress for a game.

“A tough go since he’s been here. A big, physical specimen. Fast, caught the ball well coming out of college, and just had a couple of injuries that have set him back,” Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said after practice Tuesday. “He came into my office (Tuesday) morning and said it was time for him to move on… a tough decision for him, obviously. But when you know it’s time and you make that decision, it’s a courageous one. I really wish him well.”

Nail-biting finishes

The Bombers, the comeback kids of the league recently, are getting pretty adept at running a hurry-up offence to set up victories on the final play of the game.

Winnipeg was pressed to score quickly last week in Ottawa, erasing a 30-23 lead for the hosts at the three-minute warning and scoring 10 points on the strength of three field goals and a punt single by Justin Medlock.

The week before, Winnipeg rallied from being down by 12 points with two touchdowns in the final 95 seconds to edge the Montreal Alouettes 41-40 at Investors Group Field.

Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols said employing a no-huddle offence was critical to those wins.

“It’s definitely a part of what we do and what we feel comfortable doing. Obviously, end of half, end of games, we’re pretty efficient as an offence in those situations just because we practise it. We don’t waste much time when we’re needing to score later in games,” he said.

Bombers secondary ups the ante

The much maligned Bombers secondary is feeling the love — and loving the feeling — right now.

Winnipeg held Redblacks QB Trevor Harris to 263 passing yards and a pair of majors last week, a marked improvement over the 363 yards the Als’ Darian Durant racked up the week before and a whole lot better than the 404 B.C.’s Travis Lulay generated through the air on July 21 in a 45-42 win for the Lions.

Rookie defensive back Roc Carmichael, who was switched from halfback to corner for the battle with Ottawa, said the secondary showed major improvement last week.

“Definitely, we took a step as a whole unit, fighting, getting the ball, scooping and scoring and forcing two-and-outs,” Carmichael said. “We are definitely trying to keep that going this weekend.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell