Opportunity comes knocking

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This article was published 13/08/2015 (3950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All eyes will surely be on Robert Marve when the Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts take the field at Investors Group Field Friday night.

The new starting quarterback for the Blue and Gold instantly became the centre of attention the moment the team announced he’ll get his first CFL start in relief of Drew Willy, who is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks with an ailing right knee.

And for good reason. In just days, Marve has leap-frogged two spots in the team’s depth chart — from the No. 3 option and last resort, to the head honcho in full control of the offence for a Bombers team eager to erase from memory a 38-8 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week and, more importantly, return to .500 with a win over an Argos club they’ve yet to play this season.

But as juicy a storyline Marve presents, he won’t be the only one getting a chance to prove his worth Friday, as other key injuries have opened the door for a few bodies eager to make their case for more playing time.

With Darvin Adams (upper body) — the team’s biggest deep threat at receiver — and No.1 running back Paris Cotton (broken arm) both expected to miss notable time, it’s become a new season for the likes of wideout Jhomo Gordon and tailback Cameron Marshall.

Gordon has yet to start a game in the CFL, but at 6-1, 195 pounds, he is the Bombers’ best option to run the long route. But with limited time with the first-team offence — Wednesday was the team’s only scheduled full practice this week, and was cut short due to lightning — the expectation to fill the shoes left by Adams is steep. Adams leads the Bombers in receiving yards with 360 and is tied with Justin Veltung for touchdowns with two. He’s also the only Bombers receiver to break 100 yards twice this season, first against Calgary in Week 4 (121) and again two weeks later, registering a team-high 127 yards in a 23-13 win over B.C.

As for Marshall, he’s seen his carries increase of late, even surpassing those of Cotton the past three games. And even though he’s now expected to lead a run game that’s been almost non-existent this season, he insists not much has changed, at least when it comes to his preparation this week.

“The only difference is my name is atop the depth chart this time,” Marshall told reporters Wednesday. “That’s what your job is as a backup, to prepare for worst-case scenario no matter what and to be ready in any situation. I feel like I’ve had enough carries, I feel like I understand the blocking schemes, understand the schemes of our offence so I’m ready to do this.”

Marshall said he’s not alone. Though it’s been a season filled with more downs than ups, the team remains focused, and will be ready come Friday.

“I think we’re hungry more than ever because we need to be,” he said. “Obviously we’re frustrated that those guys are down, no one enjoys losing players, especially players of those calibres. We want them to get healthy, but the other guys are hungry to step up and prove that we can still do it for those guys.”

‘I think we’re hungry more than ever because we need to be’

— Bombers running back Cameron Marshall

Backing up Marshall will be Da’Rel Scott, who played four seasons for the University of Maryland (2007-10) and was drafted in the seventh round by the New York Giants in 2011. He, too, will make his CFL debut.

Head coach Mike O’Shea was blunt when asked what he expected from the new faces entering the lineup, knowing full well his team cannot afford to take another step back in a competitive West Division where they sit in fourth place with a record of 3-4, better only than the lowly Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have yet to earn a win in their first seven games.

“I expect them not to miss a beat and their teammates expect that of them (too),” he said, adding, “but there’s also that understanding from the teammates that have been there that when a young guy or a guy with less experience gets his opportunity and he’s standing beside you, you’ve got to help him out so he doesn’t miss a beat.

“It’s a team concept of making sure that you’re looking after your guys. With a new receiver in, it’s up to the receiver beside him to make sure he knows what he has on a specific route. If it looks like he’s not sure, you tell him. You just keep these guys in check all the time so they’re able to do the right things and play fast. It starts with the player… but I always think that their teammates should help, too.”

It’s a situation Jace Daniels knows all too well. Daniels was signed to the practice roster late into the season last year before getting the chance to start in the final three games. He’s now a regular at right tackle, but understands what it took to get there and what it will take to stay.

“The biggest thing about that is you can never be comfortable,” said Daniels. “And the more you are around the more you realize that. You see the older guys come and go, so you got to realize that you need to be just as hungry as you were when you weren’t starting. That can kind of creep in to you, where you get that relaxed feeling and that’s when you have to remind yourself to keep working.

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“For us, our resumé is on tape, so if I go out there and lollygag around then that’s my film and that’s not going to get me anywhere. So I got to go out there and prove every day that I want to be here, that I should be here, that I want to be the starter and that I should be the starter.”

Perhaps the return of a few mainstays on the defensive side of the ball will help soften the blow of a depleted offensive unit. Defensive linemen Bryant Turner and Greg Peach were back at practice Wednesday and have been given the green light to play Friday. Zach Anderson, who started but was unable to finish the game last week against the Ti-Cats, will also be back in.

Receiver Nick Moore was also a full participant in practice, and he too will play against the Argos after missing the last two games with a loweribody injury. The return of Moore should bode well for Marve. Prior to joining the Bombers, the two spent a summer working out together, shopping their talents for a potential NFL contract. The expression on Moore’s face as he spoke to media suggested he would want nothing more than to see his old pal succeed and he knows it will take efforts from every guy in the locker-room for that to happen.

“On Friday, the scoreboard isn’t going to say ‘Backup QB Robert Marve is starting,’ ” Moore said, “so we just have to go out there and make plays for him, make plays for this team and we’ll be good.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @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.