Lalama set for home debut

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This article was published 26/06/2019 (2265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Linebacker DJ Lalama will play his first regular-season game for his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers tonight and the occasion will carry an added significance — a validation for his long struggle to get back in the game.

The 25-year-old University of Manitoba grad missed the entire 2018 season while he was with the Montreal Alouettes, suffering an injury to his right shoulder that required reconstructive surgery. A subsequent blood clot in one of his lungs, collateral damage from the surgery, added an element of danger to a recovery period that would take eight months.

Lalama will be mindful of that when he hits the field against the Edmonton Eskimos, the club that selected him 70th overall in the 2016 CFL draft.

“I think it’s twofold for me, I had a little bit of a life scare last year, so just being able to come back out and play football, that means more than it typically would,” Lalama said following Wednesday’s practice.

“But of course, playing at home, running out of this tunnel, you dream about doing it as a kid. You dream about having that opportunity, I mean, I just can’t wait for this opportunity.”

Lalama suited up for 10 regular-season games in 2017 for the Als, recording 10 special-teams tackles, and he’s been a special-teamer ever since. He signed with Winnipeg on Feb. 16, a day after doctors cleared him to return to active duty.

Was retirement a consideration?

“I didn’t think of hanging it up, it was more so would I be forced to?” Lalama said. “When I got the clearance, obviously God has a plan for everything and I talked to (Bombers GM) Kyle (Walters) right after and things worked out the way they did.”

Lalama plays on of two of Winnipeg’s four special-teams units and he hopes his responsibilities will grow. He’s also a driven man off the field, working 20 to 25 hours per week at Testify Performance, the new facility upstairs at the Rink Training Centre.

“That’s my job,” Lalama said before heading to the gym where he trains athletes from various disciplines including budding hockey star Carson Lambos, University of Guelph receiver Michael O’Shea Jr. and Lalama’s younger brother, Noah, a starting defensive lineman at Queen’s University. “I come here and this is fun. Football is a passion of mine. That’s there and I know it’s there.”

FEARSOME D? The Eskimos drubbed the Lions 39-23 last week while holding B.C. to 15 first downs, 153 net yards on offence and sacking quarterback Mike Reilly seven times.

Linebacker Larry Dean, a free-agent pickup by the Esks in the off-season, wasn’t getting overly excited about the defensive performance.

“It’s never as bad or as good as you think it is,” said Dean, an East Division all-star the past two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. “So even though there were seven sacks, there were also things that we went back and saw on film that could have been corrected or could’ve been done better. At the same time, it was kind of a good margin, but there was a lot of room for corrections.”

RIOS RARIN’ TO PLAY: defensive back Marcus Rios, who made a solid impression during a Florida mini-camp but missed most of training camp with an injury, could see his first CFL action. The 25-year-old was named to Winnipeg’s 46-man roster for Week 3 but could still be a game-day scratch.

“He did enough early on to say that we wanted to see him again,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “(Assistant GMs) Ted (Goveia), Danny (McManus) and (director of college scouting) Ryan (Ridgemaden) do a great job of bringing guys in and when they talk highly of a player, it certainly piques your interest and makes you want to keep him around to see him again.

“He’s got good size, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s easy to coach. I think it was a good move to keep him around and now we’ll see what he can do.”

LEAGUE LEADER: Edmonton wide receiver Greg Ellingson was one of the biggest prizes of the free-agent signing period, opting to follow quarterback Trevor Harris to the Alberta capital from the Ottawa Redblacks.

The Blue Bombers also made a concerted effort to sign the 30-year-old all-star.

“I don’t know how much of a secret it is, but it pretty much came down to Winnipeg and Edmonton,” said Ellingson, who leads the CFL with 14 catches and 240 receiving yards in two games. “(Harris was) definitely a big part of it, when you have chemistry with somebody and you know (he’s) an accurate quarterback. Look at him out here, he’s going through mental reps and taking drops the day before the game while we’re doing interviews. He’s a guy who prepares.”

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ROSTER MOVES: less than 24 hours after telling the Free Press he expected to play against his former teammates at IGF, the Eskimos placed linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox on their six-game injured list.

The ex-Bomber is one of nine players on the six-game list, which also includes linebacker Don Unamba, defensive back Anthony Orange and offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14