Bombers taking shape at camp

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This article was published 22/05/2019 (2354 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Receiver Nic Demski has been impressed with all the new faces at training camp and the fire it has brought over the past week as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers work through two-a-day practices. But as important as it is to have reliable newcomers, it’s the number of returning players that has him feeling good about the 2019 season.

“You’ve always got to have those camp battles because that’s just going to bring up the intensity, it’s going to bring up the competitiveness,” Demski said Thursday, following Day 4 of workouts at IG Field.

“Our motto here is just ‘Compete. Compete. Compete.’ That continuity, just having guys come back, it just does a lot for the leadership in the dressing room.”

Demski, who re-signed with the Bombers in February after spending the 2018 season with his hometown Bombers team, also credited general manager Kyle Walters for bringing back a familiar face in receiver Chris Matthews. Matthews started his CFL career in Winnipeg, earning rookie-of-the-year honours in 2012 before bolting to the NFL a year later. He signed a three-year deal with the Bombers earlier this month.

“Him coming in here and having a decent grasp on the playbook, we’re on the right path,” Demski said.

Matthews played for Bombers offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice during his rookie season, and he recalled how creative he was back then. Now that he’s had the chance to see the playbook for this season, he’s even more impressed with the potential it brings the offence.

“He’s a genius,” Matthews said. “He knows what he’s doing, and it shows when you get out on the field. He’s definitely a good coach and I’m excited to come back and work with him again.”

FILLING A ROLE: Canadian Jeff Hecht was a free agent when he signed during Week 5 last season as an replacement for the injured Derek Jones, one of the club’s aces on special teams and a backup safety.

Following the off-season departure of all-star safety Taylor Loffler to the Montreal Alouettes, Hecht finds himself battling with Jones for Loffler’s old job.

“I’m excited — I love opportunity,” Hecht, 33, said. “I tell everyone if I’m given an opportunity, I’m going to take advantage of it. In the CFL, coming in after training camp, whether that’s in Week 4 or Week 1 or Week 2, it’s always tougher to make your case for why you should be playing more. Every player thinks they should be playing more. If I took 59 snaps in game and there were 60, I’d be upset at myself.

“How can I earn that other snap? Because that’s just how winners think. I always think I can do more, contribute more.”

MAKING AN IMPRESSION: linebacker Adam Bighill, the CFL’s defensive MVP in 2018, watched the first four days of training camp and came away raving about some of the new talent.

“I think this is one of the most talented camps I’ve been around,” said the 30-year-old Bighill, who is beginning his second season in Winnipeg. “As far as the rookies brought in, draft picks brought in, I’m very impressed with the guys out there.”

Bighill singled out defensive linemen Connor Griffiths, a third-round draft pick in 2019 out of UBC, and Steven Richardson, a 23-year-old American rookie from the University of Minnesota.

“He’s making a ton of plays on the D-line,” said Bighill of Richardson.

“Phenomenal player.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14

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.

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