Johnson aims to repay trust coaching staff showed him

Bombers defensive tackle looking for a monster season

By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 4:00 AM CDT Tuesday, May. 29, 2018

Cory Johnson has a simple way to describe the difference between his first and second seasons in the CFL.

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Cory Johnson has a simple way to describe the difference between his first and second seasons in the CFL.

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This article was published 29/05/2018 (2660 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cory Johnson has a simple way to describe the difference between his first and second seasons in the CFL.

“It is a comfort thing,” said the 26-year-old defensive tackle after Day 9 at Blue Bombers training camp Monday. “Last year I came from getting cut twice (in Atlanta and Kansas City), so when I got up here, I was kinda on eggshells. I ain’t trying to get cut from the whole country of Canada. It was a little different, man.

“Now I’m more comfortable. I don’t have to worry about too much. I can just worry about focusing on my job and getting better.”

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Cory Johnson (centre) participates in a team workout on Monday. The defensive tackle believes he can become a game-changing force during his second season with the team. — PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Cory Johnson (centre) participates in a team workout on Monday. The defensive tackle believes he can become a game-changing force during his second season with the team.

The 6-2, 297-pound defensive tackle from Columbia, S.C., is a valuable man these days. After registering five sacks and 20 defensive tackles in 16 games for Winnipeg last season, he’s been pencilled in to be an everyday starter on the club’s defensive line in 2018.

He admits he feels the Bombers coaching staff had put more faith in him and he plans to repay that trust with a monster season. Johnson believes he can progress in the same way he did at the University of Kentucky, where he played sparingly in his first year and became into a game-changing force in his second.

A quick oneline search has some of the video evidence. Exhibit one: Johnson seems hardly winded after rumbling 77 yards with fumble recovery to score against Tennessee.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU88dwIzKgU

Exhibit two: Johnson makes a sensational interception, tipping a pass while being blocked before spinning and catching the football before falling out of bounds against Charlotte.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRn8DbKBkN0

“Yeah, I was heavier then, too,” said Johnson. “I’m 280 now. I was about 290, 295 then. They put a little extra on to round it to the nearest (hundred) and make it sound a little better. I always say, man, this year I’m looking to make a lot of sacks. I really needed to get in that end zone. Everywhere I’ve played I’ve been in the end zone. If I get in the end zone, you heard me call it first.”

Oh, and among the loquacious Johnson’s many gifts is a unique sense of humour.

“Sometimes it’s trash talk, which keeps us motivated,” said Bombers offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld. “Sometimes it’s funny, he’s cracking jokes. He’s kind of a goofy guy but he can be serious when he needs to be.”

Adds Johnson: “Yeah, man, I do it all. I’m tryin’ to play linebacker, corner, file people’s taxes. I do everything.”

He’s also aiming to double his sack total to 10 in 2018.

“I think he is different. Quantify? (I) can’t do that,” said Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea, whose club opens the pre-season at home against the Edmonton Eskimos Friday night.

“I think the one good thing is he thinks he is. He thinks he understands the game now much better. Once again, from first to second year, they come back with an ability to digest it much more easily than they did before, where they kind of went around with their eyes open wondering if they’re in the right spot.

“Now they know they’re in the right spot and because of that they can focus on execution, focus on the technique rather than just trying to line up in the right spot.”

PAYING HIS DUES: Neufeld begins the season as the starter at left guard, replacing American Travis Bond, who departed in the off-season via free agency.

It’s been a long road for the 29-year-old from Regina, who has seen mostly reserve duty prior to his fifth full season with the Blue Bombers after being acquired in a trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders late in 2013.

He started the final two regular-season games and Winnipeg’s lone playoff game in 2017.

“My mindset was I finished the season as a starter and I was approaching this year being the starter,” said Neufeld. “Everything I did in the winter months and spring was to be a starter.”

PIVOTAL QUESTION: quarterback Bryan Bennett is back in camp with the Blue Bombers but a lower-body injury has kept him from being a full participant in workouts.

The 26-year-old is among four players vying to be starter Matt Nicholls’ backup.

“I hope he’s ready to practise soon and how he factors in really depends on that,” said O’Shea.

Bennett was a member of the Blue Bombers practice roster late in 2015 and for the entire 2016 season. He was a released from Saskatchewan’s training camp in 2017.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14