Bombers expect Matthews and Johnson to be ready for Lions

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This article was published 22/08/2012 (5173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Injured Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Chris Matthews and cornerback Jovon Johnson – who were hurt in practice on Tuesday when they got tangled up on a passing play – should be back in the lineup Friday when the Bombers host the BC Lions at Canad Inns Stadium.

Matthews and Johnson both left practice early on Tuesday and did not participate again today as the team went through its final full practice in preparation for the league-leading Lions.

But head coach Paul LaPolice didn’t sound concerned when he was asked after practice this afternoon for an update on the “conditions” of the two players.

“Their conditions are they’re fine young gentlemen,” LaPolice joked. “They’ll be fine tomorrow. They just got banged up yesterday. We held them out.”

Matthews and Johnson are among the team’s leaders on offence and defence respectively and Winnipeg will need all the support they can get when they take on the Lions, who have surrendered no touchdowns in their last three games and just 22 points combined.

“It’s very remarkable,” LaPolice said of the stingy Lions. “There are some veteran quarterbacks in that crew that they faced…They’ve done a heck of a job.”

The Lions held Darian Durant and the Saskatchewan Roughriders to just 5 points last week, Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argos to just 9 points the game before that and the Calgary Stampeders and Kevin Glenn to just 8 points to start the string.