Bombers QB Matt Nichols, rebounding from calf injury, will be on the field against Esks

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This article was published 11/11/2017 (3242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Matt Nichols is ready to return to action when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers take on the Edmonton Eskimos in the West Division semifinal at Investors Group Field Sunday.

“I feel really good, honestly. I’ve been moving around a lot and fully prepared to go in and lead this football team,” said Nichols following the Bombers final walkthrough Saturday at IGF. “I’m excited to go out there in front of our home crowd. We’ve been preparing for this all season as a team and we’re ready for the moment.”

Nichols’ status for the game remained a question mark after a calf injury limited him in practice all week. But when the Bombers released their depth chart Saturday for the game, it was Nichols sitting in the No.1 slot. He spent nearly an hour testing his footwork Saturday morning and tested his calf further by throwing deep passes. The injury is to his left leg, which he uses to plant before releasing the ball.

“Yeah I’m good to go, for sure. Everyone knew that all week long on our side of it and we’ve approached it the best way that we saw fit,” said Nichols. “I’ve played a lot of football the last couple of years and played a lot of football this year so missing a couple reps here and there are not the biggest thing in the world to me.

“I still put in tons and tons of extra time here, besides from yesterday when I was at the hospital for a few hours. I’ve been in here every day from basically five a.m. to six p.m. putting in a ton of extra work in getting ready for this game.”

Nichols suffered the calf injury in a 36-27 home loss to the B.C. Lions in Week 19 and was kept out of the regular-season finale in Calgary against the Stampeders.

Nichols practised only for a brief time when the Bombers opened the week Wednesday and was said to participate even more Thursday during a closed practice. He missed all of Friday’s practice to be with his wife, Ali, for the birth of their second daughter, Parker Winnie Lou Nichols. He did make it late to the workout later Friday, where he was welcomed with congratulatory handshakes and hugs.

“It was definitely a special day and a special moment coming here afterwards. As soon as I stepped on the field everyone that saw me gave me congratulations and hugs,” said Nichols. “It’s another form of excitement, a little bit of a shot of…there are things that are big in life and I think it kind of calms your nerves a little bit for a game that you can easily put too much pressure on.

“You try and say you approach it like any other game – there’s so many things riding on it that the pressure can build and something like this can just relax people. I really have that feeling that guys were excited and it was just another thing to get everyone laughing and joking and probably calmed the nerves a little bit. It’s a blessing and a good time for it to happen.”

Nichols will start the game. It’s how long he’ll be able to play that the Bombers still don’t have an answer for. If Nichols can’t go, Dan LeFevour will take over his spot under centre, while Dominique Davis is also an option.

Meanwhile, left guard Travis Bond will not play for a third straight game, out with a lower-body injury he suffered early in a Week 18 loss in Toronto to the Argonauts. Patrick Neufeld will fill in once more, an option that doesn’t leave much of a drop off from Bond, who was named an all-star last season.

Running back Timothy Flanders is also in the lineup. Flanders created a scare late in Friday’s practice when he collapsed to the ground after taking a light hit from linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton joined the Free Press newsroom in 2015, reporting on the sports and investigative beats until he left the Free Press in July 2026.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produced was reviewed by an editing team before it was posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.