Bowman seeking positives in transition year

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This article was published 17/07/2018 (2638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adarius Bowman’s CFL resumé includes two 100-plus catch seasons and three all-star nods in 10 wildly successful years.

His 11th season, which began with a high-profile return to Winnipeg as one of the Blue Bombers’ key off-season free-agent signings, hasn’t lived up to the hype.

The veteran slotback (he turned 33 last week) has only nine receptions while being targeted a mere 21 times in his first five games.

Teammates Darvin Adams (27 targets, 13 catches), Nic Demski (29 targets, 18 catches), Andrew Harris (25 targets, 20 catches) and Weston Dressler (32 targets, 18 catches) have all been busier.

Doe this mean he’s just an expensive decoy and another case of a past-his-prime veteran succumbing to the ravages of time?

Bowman, the eternal optimist, did what he always seems to do Tuesday. He smiled and answered the questions earnestly.

He is confident his time will come.

“Honestly, I’ve been doing this so long, when it comes, it can turn into something else that we talking about,” Bowman said following practice Tuesday.

“Right now, I’m just playing a role, staying positive, try just to fit in and get to that win.

“I tell you this much, when you do take a loss, you start looking at all kind of things. And being the guy that I am, I always want the ball. I’m never going to say no to that.

“But I do want to win and I love it over here.”

Surely he wants a bigger workload, right?

“Does the question cross my mind?” Bowman said. “I say, ‘Yes.’ But do I feel like that’s the only solution to us getting a win? No.”

The return of No. 1 quarterback Matt Nichols from a knee injury may eventually result in an uptick in Bowman’s production, but offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice insists it’s no time to panic.

The plan has always been to spread the football around the offence.

“I don’t want to say something’s gone wrong,” LaPolice said. “… I would say the third-leading receiver on our team is who, Andrew Harris?

“And that’s part of what we want to do. Nic Demski’s getting touches. (Drew Wolitarsky’s) got more touches. Adarius had a big catch for a big first down last week…

“Again, I don’t scheme stuff to not get him the ball. Sometimes, the ball will come that way. One that Dressler caught last (game) for a big first down was technically Adarius as the prime player on it, but coverage dictated going the other way.”

Nichols believes Bowman has plenty of important football to play.

“Adarius has a great attitude,” Nichols said. “He loves being out here around these guys… He’s going to have his touches. It’s a long season. That’s for people outside the building to turn into some story. I think the time will come where he’s called on to make big plays for us.”

Bowman, a member of the Blue Bombers in 2009 and 2010, admitted the transition from Edmonton to Winnipeg hasn’t been seamless.

He’s had to adjust and he’s still learning a new offence.

“I would say the role may be a little different,” Bowman said.

“A lot of factors, but the biggest thing I would say is trust in the process.

“In previous years, I spent seven years in Edmonton, so there wasn’t much learning to do after the first two years — everything kinda came easy, smooth.

“Everybody knew me. Here, in this business, you’ve gotta earn your job and earn the play.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14