Catching his stride

Dillon Mitchell knows he hasn’t been the weapon that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers bargained for.

He also recognizes it’s not too late to change that.

The veteran receiver, who inked a one-year deal with the Blue and Gold this off-season, has underwhelmed since training camp opened earlier this month. He’s looked lost at times when on the field and anything but the dazzling talent that the club thought it was getting when it doled out a healthy offer — around $155,000 — to sign the high-profile pass-catcher.

“It’s been a grind, for sure,” Mitchell told the Free Press following Monday’s practice at Princess Auto Stadium. “Just coming in feeling like that, with learning the playbook, (you’re not) able to play as fast when you don’t know the plays.

“If I were to grade myself, I feel like it’s been a ‘C.’”

The 28-year-old figured to be a lock to fill one of five receiver spots on the starting offence, based on the money he was making alone. It looked to be trending that way on the first day of camp when he trotted to the wide position on the weak side of the formation, a spot held by 1,000-yard receiver Ontaria Wilson last season, but that trial lasted one day.

He’s bounced between the second and third team offence since then without standing out among the deeper pool of talent.

Mitchell, who spent the off-season in California “trying to better (himself) mentally,” admitted it’s been between the ears that has hurt him.

“Personally, I think seeing certain things before you come, just with all the changes that we were having with the staff, being able to show up on Day 1 and having to start going full-speed… I feel like my mind could’ve been a little more prepared,” he said.

The 6-1, 190-pound receiver didn’t see the field until the third quarter of the Bombers’ pre-season game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was a quiet day for the fourth-year pro, who ended with one catch for 13 yards on a throw from Terry Wilson. He was technically targeted twice, but his first look was negated by a pass-interference call.

“Winnipeg is completely different from Edmonton. I just think the prestige of this culture and the organization around here helped me and made me pick my game up.”– Bombers wide receiver Dillon Mitchell

“That’s why I said, ‘it’s a different place,’” he added. “Winnipeg is completely different from Edmonton. I just think the prestige of this culture and the organization around here helped me and made me pick my game up.”

Mitchell exploded onto the scene as a rookie with the Elks in 2022, racking up 637 yards and four touchdowns on 35 catches in nine games. He continued to be a bright spot during some dark days in Edmonton over the last two seasons, but was released in the wake of the organization cleaning house in the off-season.

That’s to say, Mitchell knows what he’s capable of doing, it just hasn’t come together as quickly as he had hoped.

“I just feel like now I’m trying to end on a stronger note and, as the coaches have seen, me just being the player that I’ve been,” he said.

True to his word, Mitchell had his best practice as a Bomber on Monday, hauling in four passes during team period while appearing more explosive as he flashed his speed on a pair of pop-passes (similar to a jet sweep, but in front of the quarterback).

It looked like something had clicked. He ran faster and with more decisiveness.

“I’ve always been a person that’s been able to say the words, ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable,’ so I feel like you have to win out on the field,” said Mitchell, adding he understands the decision to put him on the second and third units.

“There’s 11 other guys that are out there with you, so being able to not only know what you’re doing and everybody playing at a fast speed — having that chemistry — it has to click out there and, now, I feel like it’s starting to come.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea agreed, noting he’s noticed a difference in the player from the one who reported for work earlier this month.

“He’s absolutely been coming on. He’s got a pretty accurate assessment (about the start of his camp), but those are things he knows and, as a staff, the coaches have talks with him. You let guys know where they’re at as the process goes along — you coach them,” he said. “Very quickly, he took the coaching and got some extra work in and studied and he’s stacking better days now, for sure.”

Mitchell’s track record — and salary — would suggest he will be given every chance to prove himself before the roster is cut down on Saturday.

So while he appears to still be in a good position to make the team, the question is whether he has enough time to make a case to start in the Bombers’ regular-season opener in Week 2.

Simply put, Mitchell needs to earn the trust of Zach Collaros, who has spent camp building an on-field rapport with the receivers rotating with the top units. Beyond the first day of practice, nothing seen publicly would suggest Mitchell and Collaros have built any chemistry together.

“I think we have some position battles going on right now. Without saying too much… I feel comfortable with the guys who have been rotating with the ones and the twos,” Collaros said.

And with the regular season nearing, the Bombers’ starting pivot would like to know who his top options will be going forward.

“We’re certainly going to give everybody the opportunities. I don’t think we’re solidifying anything yet. We’ve got a few more practices and a game and film to watch.”– Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea

“If there’s an inkling of what we want to do, I think we need to make a decision sooner than later because there’s just not enough reps to go around to (get a feel for every receiver), so the more and more you can do that, the better you get at it,” he said. “I think repetition is invaluable in this game, specifically the passing game.”

O’Shea kept his cards close to his vest on this topic, saying the coaching staff will make a decision, “Whenever we have all the information.”

“We’re certainly going to give everybody the opportunities,” he said. “I don’t think we’re solidifying anything yet. We’ve got a few more practices and a game and film to watch. Certainly be short-sighted if we said, ‘These are our guys right now.’”

That leaves a crack in the door for Mitchell, who believes he’s finally found some traction and has the talent to change his outlook with the club.

“It’s all about progression, and I feel like for myself, seeing it, I don’t think anything is out of my comfort (zone),” he said.

“Competition makes or breaks people, and I feel like I always rise to the occasion, so I know that there’s (nowhere) to go but up. And now… either in the next pre-season game or the first game, I will be fully acclimated to being a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca