You gotta be Lucky to be good

By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 9:16 PM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 2, 2019

The word is out on Winnipeg’s secret weapon.

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The word is out on Winnipeg’s secret weapon.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2019 (2296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The word is out on Winnipeg’s secret weapon.

Blue Bombers slotback Lucky Whitehead tore up the Edmonton Eskimos during Week 3 of the CFL regular season, catching seven passes for 155 yards and two highlight-reel touchdowns.

Whitehead made those electrifying plays look like second nature. But it wasn’t so long ago the easygoing 27-year-old native of Manassas, Va., had reached a professional dead end when injuries forced him off the active roster of the NFL’s New York Jets in 2017.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Blue Bombers receiver Lucky Whitehead scored a pair of touchdowns against the Eskimos. — PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Blue Bombers receiver Lucky Whitehead scored a pair of touchdowns against the Eskimos.

A broken foot and a hamstring injury led to an extended inactive period and Whitehead was released by the Jets for the final time on Aug. 31, 2018. He was still in professional limbo when he impressed the Blue Bombers enough at a Florida mini-camp this spring to earn an invitation to training camp.

“I was at a bad point,” Whitehead said following practice Tuesday afternoon. “I walk around with a smile every day and I’m excited to come to work but like I said, I was in a bad place when I was hurt.

“All I know is football. It is what I love and just being out here and being around my teammates, that brotherhood, that makes everything better.”

Whitehead admitted he hasn’t enjoyed playing this much since his college years at Florida Atlantic or his rookie pro season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2015.

Against the Eskimos, Whitehead took a short pass from quarterback Matt Nichols and scampered 47 yards for a score, eluding a number of would-be tacklers along the way.

“I come out here to practise and treat it like games,” Whitehead said. “I get excited going against the defence. We’re actually out there competing. I’m trying to make my guys better and they’re trying to make me better. I watch film. For me, like I said, the game is fun again. I’m enjoying it and I’m glad I’m here.”

After a quiet one-catch debut in Week 1 against the B.C. Lions, Whitehead hopes he’ll become a major threat every time out.

“Well, we’ll try to get (the football) to him,” Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice said. “But (he’s) certainly a guy who can make you miss when he’s got opportunities in space. It’s always what we’re trying to do, whether it’s him or any of our guys. We’ll try to create space for them and get them the ball.”

LaPolice puts Whitehead in a category of playmakers with former Blue Bombers Keith Stokes and Charles Roberts. He likes what he’s seen from the current crop of pass-catchers, Whitehead included.

“When we put them into position to be successful, they do a good job,” LaPolice said. “Lucky’s (first) play for a touchdown (against the Esks) could easily have been pass interference because he could’ve stopped. We coach (they should) fight through it and make the catch and score the touchdown.”

HE SAID IT: Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea is not a fan of the notion the Blue Bombers defence has a bend-but-don’t-break approach.

“I don’t think that’s anything that any defensive guy has ever said,” said O’Shea, whose defence forced Edmonton to kick seven field goals in a 28-21 victory.

“I think that’s a media made-up term. Everybody’s defence wants to go out and smash someone in the mouth right there and get ’em off the field. So, I’ve never subscribed to that. It happens. There are times when you give up some yards and when you don’t give up the touchdown, that’s when you’re labeled as bend-but-don’t-break. But when you give up the touchdown, I don’t know what you call it.”

NOTEWORTHY: veteran linebacker Adam Bighill received a day off Tuesday from the day-to-day grind but is expected to be in the lineup for Winnipeg’s Friday night matchup with the Redblacks in Ottawa.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14