Mitchell staying patient, making progress

Dillon Mitchell has gotten pretty good at practising patience.

As a receiver, he channels it every time he explodes off the line of scrimmage, running his routes while carefully reading the cues of a defender or finding a soft spot in the defensive coverage. There’s also no guarantee he ever gets the ball, which can test the discipline of the best pass-catchers when their number goes uncalled for long stretches.

This week, Mitchell’s patience is being tested as much as it has all year. It’s not about the chaos that’s happening around him when he’s on the field; it’s about seeing the field at all.

The 28-year-old figured to be the top option to replace Dalton Schoen in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ starting offence as the star receiver deals with a knee injury that knocked him out of the team’s Week 5 contest against the Calgary Stampeders.

Mitchell was the Bombers’ prized addition during free agency last off-season, signing a one-year deal that included $148,000 in hard money and a $63,300 signing bonus.

Yet, while Schoen has missed two consecutive practices coming off the bye week, it’s been second-year receiver Kody Case working with the top unit while the handsomely paid Mitchell remains on the scout team.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s frustrating. More so on myself, as a teammate, it’s frustrating to watch guys like Dalton go down,” Mitchell told the Free Press after Monday’s practice at Princess Auto Stadium, where the Bombers (3-1) are preparing to host the Calgary Stampeders (4-1) on Friday (7:30 p.m.).

“I know Kody pretty well now, and I think for myself, anything that coach O’Shea has talked about, I would pretty much reiterate, and when the time is more than right, I feel like that coach O’Shea and the staff know what they’re doing.”

Mitchell, who signed in Winnipeg after three encouraging seasons with the Edmonton Elks, had a tumultuous training camp that saw him quickly fall out of favour on the top offensive unit. Rather than be the starter that many pencilled him in to be, based on what he signed for, Mitchell had to fight to earn one of the last spots on the active roster.

“I’m just in the system, and, honestly, just glad to be here and still be able to play football,” he added. “That’s what I’m able to do, and that’s all I’m focused on right now. Anything internal, as far as what’s going on, pretty much stays with Coach O’Shea and the staff and myself.”

The 6-1, 185-pound receiver has yet to suit up for a game this season and has been moved to the one-game injured list ahead of each contest. The reason for Mitchell’s slide down the depth chart has not been confirmed, but there’s reason to believe that it had to do with him having a hard time grasping the playbook.

During training camp, Mitchell told the Free Press that he was not prepared mentally for the onboarding process when he arrived in spring, and on Monday, he noted that he’s come “extremely far” since the preseason, “especially with the playbook.”

However, things still have not improved enough for him to warrant playing time.

“I like where Dillon is at. He’s been growing tremendously, he’s come a long way,” said offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan.

“I think it’s hard for anybody coming into a new system, right? And he and I have zero experience together, but I really like where he’s at. I like where he’s been climbing week in and week out, and that’s what we need to see from him. We need to see everybody do the same thing, week in week out, just keep getting better.”

The case for Case is his understanding of the playbook and his familiarity with the offence. He practised with the team last season while he spent most of the year on the practice roster and suiting up for three games as the returner.

Meanwhile, the numbers favour Mitchell, whose 130 receptions, 1,896 yards and 12 touchdowns across 45 career games easily outweigh Case’s one catch for five yards.

“His work ethic,” Hogan said of what he likes about Case. “Works hard, regardless of where he stands. I think that’s what you want from all your players. You want them just to be able to go out there and play regardless of where you stand on the roster, and just come out and play, practice hard every day.”

The other factor working in Case’s favour is that the Bombers are more comfortable with him in the slot than they are with Mitchell.

While Mitchell played some slot in Edmonton and assured that position is “something I’m able to do for sure,” Hogan views him as a wideout, the spot where most of his production has come from as a pro.

“I definitely think he’s got a better feel for being on the ball (wideout),” Hogan said. “The waggle, whether you’re fresh off the boat, as we say, or whether you’ve been in this league, it’s a hard thing. You got to get a feel for it, and a lot of guys grow up static. It’s not necessarily easy to make that transition. So I think that would probably be his best spot.”

That would mean either breakout receiver Keric Wheatfall, who leads the team with 283 receiving yards, or Kevens Clericus, a player with national status who is fresh off a career-best performance (10 catches for 78 yards), would need to come out of the lineup.

After training camp, an injury was thought to be Mitchell’s best avenue to seeing the field in a Bomber uniform. The rubber has met the road, however, and it does not appear to be trending in that direction.

He will continue to wait, in hopes his patience is rewarded.

“Keep coming to work,” Mitchell said. “Once you start having a bad attitude about things — especially for myself being in the league already — once I start feeling entitled or feel bad for myself, or that something is not being given to me, I think that’s the part where I started to lose it.

“During my play and practice and constantly over the weeks, I feel like I’m continuously getting better than what I was and right now just getting back to being truly the wide receiver that I know I am, and being dominant on the offensive end.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam