Bombers coach confident after submitting regular season roster

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This article was published 19/06/2017 (3211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea expressed confidence in the makeup of his team when he met the media Monday morning for the first time since establishing his roster for the start of the 2017 CFL season.

“I think we had a lot of depth in camp, some great competition, and our team’s going to be better for it,” said O’Shea, whose club finished the pre-season with a 38-38 tie against the Edmonton Eskimos Thursday night at Investors Group Field.

“Obviously, the decision-making time becomes difficult because there are little things that separate one guy from the next. Dealing with real people that had real dreams that maybe change when you finish talking to me, but it’s also an exciting time for sure.”

O’Shea and Winnipeg’s management team trimmed the club’s roster down to the regular-season limit Saturday, but they do not need to establish their 46-player active roster and injured list until June 30, the day before their regular-season opener in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Blue Bombers are in the slightly uncomfortable position of having a Week 1 bye after going 0-0-2 in pre-season.

O’Shea was non-committal when asked to confirm the status of non-import Sam Hurl, who performed well in training camp and was making a strong bid to become the team’s starting middle linebacker, a role he held in 2015. His chief competition for the role is import Kyle Knox.

“We don’t have to declare our roster til next week sometime, right, Day 3 or something like that?” said O’Shea. “So, I thought Sam had a very good camp. I thought he had a good camp last year and a good camp this year. He’s played well, but once again, there was a pretty good competition there.”

One of the most surprising of the Saturday moves was the release of veteran Kenny Stafford, who was signed in the off-season to add depth to the receiving corps. Stafford was underwhelming in pre-season, being targeted once in each of two games and no catches.

“I don’t think it’s what he didn’t do,” said O’Shea of Stafford. “Once again, with some of the guys we brought in, a couple of guys, their play was pretty elevated and they ended up winning jobs, right? So I don’t think there was anything Kenny did or didn’t do. I think it’s a matter of a guy like (Clarence Denmark) and (L’Damian) Washington stepping up pretty good, and all our guys competing very hard.”

O’Shea suggested linebacker/defensive back Maurice Leggett (lower body) could be ready for the regular-season opener, and receiver T.J. Thorpe (lower body) could be out “for a couple of weeks.”

Asked about the status of former Blue Bombers receiver/kick returner Quincy McDuffie, O’Shea had no news about the recent cut of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

“I haven’t spoken to him personally, so I imagine he’s waiting for another opportunity down there,” said O’Shea. “As I’ve said, we’ve pared down our roster, we’ve got a lot of guys we like. I don’t know where Quincy’s head is at.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14