LaPolice looks on bright side despite gaping hole in defensive line

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This article was published 11/08/2011 (5201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – Faced with a gaping hole in the middle of his defensive line heading into Saturday’s contest in Vancouver against the BC Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice is looking on the bright side.

“I’m excited. There’s no other way to feel,” LaPolice said Thursday after the Bombers practised for one final time this week at Canad Inns Stadium before heading to Vancouver on Friday.

“You don’t worry about those things. And the mantra of this team has been…when someone gets hurt, someone steps up to make a big play. And we’re hoping our guys will do that.”

They’re going to have to step up. LaPolice finally confirmed today the worst kept secret all week — that his club will be without both of its starting defensive tackles for Saturday’s game.

Dorion Smith injured his ankle in the first half last week against Edmonton and there’s never been any question that he wouldn’t play this weekend, but it wasn’t until today that LaPolice said with certainty that 11-year veteran Doug Brown will also be missing from the lineup on Saturday.

The Bombers will use a troika of lineman to replace Brown and Smith at tackle, with Bryant Turner and Don Oramasionwu — who both filled in commendably against Edmonton — joined this week by Jason Vega, who is returning from a knee injury and will do time both at end and tackle on Saturday.

It will be the second game in a row that Brown is missing with what the team is describing in only the vaguest terms as a “foot injury,” but Brown said he will still make the trip to Vancouver anyway and will be on the sidelines assisting anyway he can on Saturday night.

Brown said the injuries to himself and Smith are not without their benefits heading into the BC game. “(Turner and Oramasionwu) did very well last week and I’d expect more of the same heading into BC,” Brown said. “You get different looks from different people and sometimes that can be just as challenging as playing against the same guys for 11 years.

“Guess what? They’re not going to have any tape on the guys we’re sending to BC. Good luck figuring out how to block.”

The Bombers are 5-1 and alone in first place in the East Division heading into Saturday, while the Lions, coming in off their first win of the season last week, are 1-5 and tied for last in the West Division.