Nichols’ injury not affecting performance

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This article was published 13/10/2017 (2941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MATT Nichols has thrown with authority in practice this week and if he’s been favouring his injured right hand, it hasn’t been apparent. How did the Blue Bombers quarterback rate his performance?

“Ten out of 10, exactly the same,” Nichols said, following Friday’s walk-through at Investors Group Field.

Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea concurred.

“No difference. Do you see a difference?” O’Shea said. “I’ve watched all week and I think it looks the same as it did last week.”

Buono on Harris

Winnipeg tailback Andrew Harris is in the midst of a MVP-calibre season, a storyline his old coach, B.C. boss Wally Buono, is well acquainted with.

“First of all, he’s had a great season. Coming to Winnipeg has been good for him,” said Buono, who watched Harris for six seasons in Vancouver. “I think it’s been good all round for his career and you’ve gotta give (Bombers offensive co-ordinator) Paul LaPolice a lot of credit for how he’s being used. Andrew has always been a good back, he’s always been a good receiver and you could always count on him to be productive both ways.

“The thing is they put a lot of confidence as far as running back and they make sure he’s a big part of their passing game. When you can give Andrew the ball in space, that’s when he’s the best.”

Future of Wally World

Two seasons after returning to coaching, following a five-year break managing the Lions, Buono hasn’t said if he’ll return to the sidelines in 2018.

“I’ve always said the result of the football season won’t have anything to do with the decision that has to be made,” said Buono, whose club has lost three straight and six of their last seven games to fall to 6-8.

“I’ve talked to (owner) David (Braley) and David’s been great about it that we would sit down after the season and look at where he is, where the organization is and then we would go from there.

“Nothing’s changed. I committed to David to coach in ’16 and ’17 and I have a contract with the Lions and David in ’18. Once the season is over, once we know all the facts, I guess we can go from there.”

B.C. ground game

Jeremiah Johnson and Chris Rainey, a dynamic duo in the B.C. backfield, present a problem for the Bombers defence. Johnson is fourth in league rushing with 787 yards on 133 carries to go with 470 receiving yards while Rainey has chipped in with 115 rushing yards and 321 through the air.

“I’m not going to get too much into the details of what we want to do to try stop it,” said Bombers middle linebacker Sam Hurl.

“It’s just making sure we’re fundamentally sound and that we are where we need to be. They’re good backs, so if we have a hole and somebody isn’t where they need to be on our defence, then they’ll expose that.”

Playoffs, what playoffs?

A loss today will eliminate the Lions from playoff contention and so you can expect them to be suitably motivated.

“You know, we’ve dug ourselves pretty deep,” said linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the league leader with 108 defensive tackles.

“From our (perspective), this is playoff football for us. We have to look at one game at a time and we play Winnipeg, a very good team, and focus all our attention, all our energy, on this game.”

Flanders won’t play

Bombers running back Timothy Flanders (ankle) was a spectator at Friday’s walk-through and will not suit up today.

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“We’ve talked all year and last year, too, about the depth and how we’ve worked hard to get the kind of depth we need to be successful,” O’Shea said. “And this is another one of those opportunities for other people to draw in in different situations and do what they can do.”

Meanwhile, defensive lineman Trent Corney (foot), fullback Mike Miller (lower body) and wide receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino all practised and are expected to be in the lineup against the Lions. Feoli-Gudino and fellow Canadian receiver Matt Coates are listed as starters on Winnipeg’s depth chart.

Import receiver L’Damian Washington, who has been on Winnipeg’s practice roster since Week 5, was listed on the club’s 46-man roster and could play today. Two undetermined players will be scratched before game time.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14

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