McKnight Bombers latest ‘next man up’

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This article was published 26/07/2022 (1191 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ receiving corps can catch everything but a break these days.

Carlton Agudosi left Friday night’s victory over the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. It marked the fourth straight game that a pass catcher in Blue and Gold suffered an injury.

Agudosi, who’s expected to be out for a while, joins an already crowded sick bay that features fellow receivers in Nic Demski (ankle), Brendan O’Leary-Orange, and Greg Ellingson (hip). Ellingson was placed on the one-game injured list last week and was still in street clothes at Tuesday’ practice at IG Field.

“Yeah, it’s hit us this year, bro. We didn’t get this last year. We had pretty much the same guys last year,” said Bombers receiver Drew Wolitarsky.

“It’s definitely different. It changes each week. And I feel bad for Carlton, man. He had a great game coming out, a great debut, and that happens to him. It’s going to be another change this week but I think as you’ve seen, we have a lot of guys who know what they’re doing.”

Whenever someone gets hurt, the Bombers throw out the “Next man up” cliché. The only problem is now they’re running out of bodies to promote, leading to the Bombers signing a familiar face in Kelvin McKnight on Tuesday to the practice roster. McKnight caught 15 passes for 96 yards in eight games last season. The 25-year-old from Samford University hasn’t been able to build off of that in 2022 as he was cut at the end of training camp. After his release, McKnight returned to his home in Florida, worked with his trainer to stay in shape, and patiently waited for a phone call.

It just so happened to come from a familiar number.

“It wasn’t my first time being released. I got released by the Denver Broncos twice, I got released by the New England Patriots, got released here, so it was my fourth time. Mentally, I’ve been through it,” McKnight said on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t a young player, I wasn’t just stuck in my emotions. (I) understand this is a business. Sometimes it has nothing to do with your play. But like I said, it’s a business so I just stayed ready cause I knew the call was coming.”

McKnight missed a chunk of time in training camp with an injury. Despite that, the 5-9 receiver wasn’t expecting the Bombers to move on from him.

“Yeah, you can say (that), but like I said, I’m just here to work,” McKnight said.

“I’m glad the opportunity came back.”

The Bombers have always liked McKnight, they just didn’t have the room to keep him.

“This year was different than the previous year. We had an extra five guys on the PR last year. So, if we had those numbers, he wouldn’t have been gone,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.

“… We liked what he did last year. We liked what he did in training camp. There were just some other guys that we liked a little more. But he’s one of those guys that’s very versatile and he always knows all the positions across the board. He works hard so it was a no brainer to bring him back.”

Regardless of who Zach Collaros has to throw to, the team has been finding ways to win. But it wasn’t pretty in Edmonton as Collaros only completed seven passes. Fortunately for the visitors, rookie Dalton Schoen made his catches count as he had four for 146 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. But outside of Schoen, there weren’t many positives. Collaros was picked off twice and completed only 44 per cent of his passes. Winnipeg’s offence was only on the field for less than 23 minutes while Edmonton’s offence was able to run 30 more plays (69-39).

It’s going to take a much more productive effort if the 7-0 Bombers are going to beat the Calgary Stampeders (4-1) on Saturday at McMahon Stadium.

“We had big plays that pretty much solidified the win. We had to find ways to win and somehow did, man, and that’s what a team does,” said Wolitarsky, who had one catch for five yards.

“We sort of put our pride aside for the day and be like ‘What’s my job today? What do I gotta do?’ And we have the ability to do that. It doesn’t come easy all the time, but it’s something you have to learn when you’re a part of a winning team.”

STAMPS HIT BY ILLNESS

The Stampeders are coming off of a bye week, but they’re not at full health either as head coach Dave Dickenson said Tuesday several players are battling COVID-19 and pneumonia. Offensive lineman Derek Dennis, linebacker Jameer Thurman, running back Ka’Deem Carey, linebacker Charlie Moore and third-string quarterback Tommy Stevens are all listed on the injury report under “illness”.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31