Knee injury knocks Bighill out for the rest of the season

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This article was published 19/09/2024 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adam Bighill confirmed what many had already feared, Thursday morning.

The Bombers’ veteran linebacker will miss the remainder of the season due to a left knee injury suffered late in the Labour Day Classic.

“Unfortunately, today I’m going in for surgery on my knee that will end my season,” Bighill captioned an Instagram post from his personal account. “The support from family, friends, teammates, and fans has been incredible. It sure makes this process easier, as it’s the furthest thing from your expected version of the season. Excited to watch and help my guys finish this season to reach our ultimate goal.

“This isn’t the end of #4 by any means. But it does mean one step at a time. Attacking rehab is next.”

The 35-year-old dealt with a couple of injuries this year, first a calf injury that forced him to miss the season-opener and later a hamstring injury that kept him out of action in Week 12. His campaign ends with 48 defensive tackles and one sack in 10 appearances.

Bighill has been the heartbeat of the Winnipeg defence since arriving in 2018 and is one of the most decorated defensive players in CFL history, earning six CFL all-star selections and three Most Outstanding Defensive Player Awards in his 12-year career.

“Guys like Adam, there’s lots of guys on every team that are basically irreplaceable and you just make sure that the guys that are playing in their spots don’t try to be someone they’re not. Just be themselves. They’re here for a reason, they can play football, they can help us win football games and I think they should be happy about being their type of player, said head coach Mike O’Shea, adding there’s no doubt in his mind Bighill will play again.

“We got a bunch of guys that can play. If you’re dressed defensively, you’re getting snaps.”

That includes Canadian Shayne Gauthier, who started at middle linebacker in Bighill’s absence this year.

Gauthier, 32, has appeared in all 13 contests, tallying three defensive tackles, eight on special teams and forcing one fumble. Balancing the disappointment of a friend going down and the professional opportunity that comes with it has been bitter-sweet for the eighth-year pro.

“Internally, we knew what happened already after the game so we already went through that process of just being with him and and hoping everything goes fine (during the surgery),” said Gauthier, who has spent his entire career in Winnipeg. “We know he’s going to work his ass off in his rehab and that’s the thing in football is those kind of things can happen so everybody’s ready to step up.

“Obviously, nobody is going to replace Biggie. Biggie is Biggie, but we have good players in the room that can step up for that role and take a step toward our goal at the end of the year.”

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With fellow linebacker Kyrie Wilson nearing a return to his spot on the weak side, Tony Jones could also see significant snaps in the middle of the defence.

“There’s a lot of players in our group that have that opportunity. The final decision comes from the coaches on who they want to send in there,” Gauthier said. “We used to do a lot of rotational work the last couple of years so we’ll see how that goes in the next couple of weeks.”

The Bombers (7-6) will be in Edmonton to face the Elks (5-8) at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday (6 p.m.).

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

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Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh 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.