Adams ‘couldn’t be better’ after serious shoulder injury

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This article was published 05/06/2018 (2704 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Darvin Adams has been the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ best receiver over the past two seasons, emerging as one of the CFL’s top pass catchers during his time in blue and gold.

Over the past two years, the 28-year-old native of Canton, Miss., has amassed 1,810 yards through the air and 13 touchdowns. In 2017, he recorded his first 1,000-yard receiving season, finishing with 1,120 yards, and was named a divisional and CFLPA all-star.

It’s an impressive feat, given Adams suffered season-ending injuries in each of those years. But after a serious shoulder injury that forced him to miss the final three games of the regular season last year, as well as the playoffs, Adams said he’s at 100 per cent and looking forward to building on his career year.

“It’s great, couldn’t be better,” Adams said about the condition of his shoulder following Tuesday’s practice at Investors Group Field. “It was just really about taking my time, not really forcing it. I kind of did that to start off with and I reinjured it as I was working hard. But I just learned to just keep the pace, stay in a positive vibe. The trainers here, we did a lot of things together.”

With the help of Bombers head athletic therapist Al Couture and his staff, Adams said he was able to stay focused with workouts that didn’t always include strengthening the shoulder. He said he found the rehab frustrating at first, with his overzealousness leading to reinjuring the shoulder, but working on his legs and cardio certainly helped ease his mind.

“I was just taking it day by day,” Adams said.

“Al did a great job of just keeping me on pace and having me ready now, because I feel like I’m 100 per cent and ready to go.”

He added: “It’s tough to play every game in the CFL. This is a competitive league and there are a lot of things that go on in a long season. But, man, I’m just thankful to do what I was able to do when I was in games.”

WAIT AND SEE: the Bombers have two intriguing pieces in receivers Rueben Randle and Kenbrell Thompkins, both of whom arrived in Winnipeg this year with lengthy stays in the NFL on their resumés.

But whether or not that success can translate to the CFL game remains to be seen. Both dressed for the Bombers in a 33-13 home win over the Edmonton Eskimos last week, but were given limited reps, with neither reeling in a catch. Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was asked if the two would be afforded a better opportunity to show they belong.

“That’s’ the hope,” O’Shea said. “We don’t have to evaluate on whether they catch the ball or not, we know that they can catch. Let’s see them get open, let’s see them block, let’s see them play a physical style of game, let’s see them run by guys, let’s see them be in the right spot at the right time.

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“It’s not necessarily how much or how many throws they get tossed their way but what they’re doing without the ball in their hands, too. But you certainly would like to see what they do when they get the ball in their hands with a little bit of space. I’d like to see that a couple times each, that’s for sure.”

Randle, 27, totalled 188 receptions for 2,644 yards and 20 touchdowns in four years with the New York Giants. Thompkins, 29, played with the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders and New York Jets, where he combined for 893 yards on 70 catches with four touchdowns.

ON THE MEND: the list of walking wounded continued into Tuesday’s practice with a number of notable players absent from the workout. The list included linebackers Adam Bighill and Ian Wild, defensive backs Maurice Leggett, Brendan Morgan and Marcus Sayles, running backs Timothy Flanders and Kienan LaFrance, and offensive linemen Manase Foketi and Jermarcus Hardrick.

With the Bombers expected to dress few veterans when they wrap up the pre-season schedule on the road against the B.C. Lions on Friday night, it’s likely most, if not all, currently out with injury will not participate in the game. O’Shea said the only players likely to be out longer-term are Leggett and LaFrance, both of whom have yet to take part in training camp, as well as Wild.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is 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.