Bombers wrap up mini camp

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This article was published 27/04/2012 (5087 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three days of running around and getting loose are over for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The CFL club wrapped up the mini camp portion of its off-season schedule at a blustery Canad Inns Stadium Friday afternoon. Thirty-one players took part in the relaxed workouts, with a majority of those coming on the offensive side of the ball.

That was the plan all along, the club said.

“Offensively we got to get timing down and defensively we were able to work on fundamentals,” head coach Paul LaPolice said afterwards.

“Certainly, the players get a chance to get together against and work together. The best thing was no injuries and now we can prepare for the main camp.”

If the Bombers’ mini camp accomplished anything tangible, it probably happened on offence, specifically within the system new offensive co-ordinator Gary Crowton wants to use. Players didn’t get a chance to really sink their teeth into the playbook, they said, but just having an idea of what’s going to be expected when main training camp starts was a positive takeaway from the experience.

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“A new sense of what we’re going to do offensively,” quarterback Buck Pierce said, when asked what he took out of the workouts. “That’s the main thing you do. I’m always in favour of doing these mini camps.”

The Bomber coaches will now sit down and decide how they’ll proceed with the roster moving forward. The club announced the release of one player, saying goodbye with Winnipeg product OL Will Henry Friday afternoon.

The schedule for the remainder of the off-season breaks down like this:

• new uniforms (home and away) will be unveiled May 1;
• the CFL draft takes place May 3. Winnipeg holds the eighth overall pick;
• rookie camp, the preamble to the main training camp that features first-year and select second year players, will be held at the end of May;
• main training camp opens the first week of June at Canad Inns Stadium.
• the Bombers play their first exhibition game June 14 in Montreal.

The club is also expected to provide a progress update and a revised construction timetable for Investors Group Field next week.