Blue and Gold work out bugs in scrimmage

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/06/2009 (5948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Call it a dress rehearsal for the dress rehearsals. And based on first impressions, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Blue-Gold scrimmage Friday night, this bunch has a ton of work to do before opening night.

There were the usual assortment of illegal procedures, missed tackles, dropped passes and bad reads — typical of any intra-squad game in mid-June. There was also a ton of positive developments that were interesting teases for the 2,500 in attendance as the Bombers prepare for their first pre-season game next Wednesday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Canad Inns Stadium.

WHO JUMPED OFF THE PAGE

“ö No. 37 Ramonce Taylor — Believe us folks, it hasn’t taken long to see why this guy was a big-time star at Texas when they won a national championship in 2005.

If he can get his life straightened out and finds his game again he might not be here long. Put it this way, he’ll draw a lot of attention from NFL scouts if he makes the squad.

“He is as gifted as probably anyone I’ve ever been around,” said Bomber head coach Mike Kelly. “He’s really athletically special. Now he needs a whole lot of learning.”

“ö No. 45 Jonathan Hefney, linebacker — The former four-year starter at Tennessee at corner or safety has been converted to outside linebacker and although he may be smallish at 5-foot-9, 190, he flies around the field and his hits pack a wallop.

“Ray Charles would have noticed Hefney out there tonight,” said Kelly. “He’s performing at the same level we saw down in Florida. He’s played at a high level of NCAA competition at Tennessee and he really flies around. When it comes right down to it, he’s a football player. And he’s going to help us.”

“ö No. 12 Adarius Bowman, receiver — He’s been dandy since the first day of camp and was solid again Friday night with, unofficially, three catches — including the longest offensive play of the night on a 35-yard pass from Bryan Randall.

Said Kelly: “Big, strong, good-looking kid and I think everyone knows I like big receivers. He’s progressing nicely. He’s having fun out here. He’s enjoying himself right now and he’s got great energy.”

“ö No. 56 Chase Ortiz, defensive end — On our little star chart we had Ortiz with three sacks. A star at Texas Christian, Ortiz has a motor that doesn’t stop and reminds us a little of Joe Fleming.

“ö No. 7 Riall Johnson, defensive end — He showcased an explosive first step and also dropped back in many formations to play linebacker.

THE QBS

“ö Stefan LeFors was unofficially 4 of 11, although he was the victim of one drop. Got better as the night progressed.

“ö James Kilian finished two of five; didn’t do anything to jump off the page.

“ö Bryan Randall engineered the best offensive drive of the night, including the 35-yarder to Bowman.

“ö Richie Williams looked comfy out there; ran well twice and operates best when he moves the pocket.

Kelly on his quarterbacks: “I want to look at film on all of them and obviously there were some things that happened out there that aren’t directly related to what the quarterback did. I told the guys this will be great teaching film for us. We’ll evaluate it and we as coaches will find a better way to teach them now after seeing what some of the mistakes were.”

WORTH NOTING:

“ö Alexis Serna connected on both field goal tries, one from 10 yards the other a 52-yard bomb.

“ö Scrap city: there was one fight as veteran offensive tackle Luke Fritz and rookie D-lineman Dorian Smith went at it. Smith had his helmet ripped off, but that didn’t stop him from flailing wildly before the dust-up was busted up by teammates.

“ö This from veteran offensive lineman Kelly Bates after an illegal procedure brought a razz from the crowd: “Hey,” said Bates, grinning from the sideline with his arms out, “Cut us some slack here! It’s practice.”

THE LAST WORD:

“I’m just so happy with the way this first week went,” said Kelly. “It’s a real positive thing and we have a good feeling about what’s going on. Now we’ve just got to keep banging at the rock and eventually it will get right.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

BOMBER TRAINING CAMP: Day 6

NEW HOG EN ROUTE: The Bombers have scooped up former U of M Bison O-lineman Lorne Plante (6-7, 305), who flunked his physical in B.C. He can play guard and centre and the team hopes to see him on the practice field Sunday.

IT HURTS TO WATCH: PK Dan Giancola (groin) is still awaiting the green light from the medical staff. That could come Sunday, but the clock is ticking on the veteran hoofer’s comeback.

“It’s frustrating,” said head coach Mike Kelly. “I feel for him a little bit because I know how much this opportunity means to him. But like I’ve said about other positions: every day you’re not doing something you’re getting behind. Hopefully he can progress and the plan right now is to have him kick on Sunday. It’s something we can’t rush, but at the same time we’ve got a football team to put together.”

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LION KING? Here’s Kelly when asked if he thought the Bombers would miss Milt Stegall’s leadership: “Is there another Milt in this locker-room right now? We don’t know. Any time you lose a player who has been with one organization for that long and has been that productive, yeah, it takes a bit away from you. But we’ve had enough turnover in the locker room now that over half of them weren’t in there with Milton so isn’t as big an effect on them. And I think that’s what some of the veterans who were brought in are appreciating right now: this is their opportunity to establish a new day. I’ve used the ‘Lion King’ as an analogy. I’m Simba. I was gone for a while and now I’m back to see if we can get some water in the valley and run the hyenas and start all over.”

THE McGRATH MYSTERY: Some fallout from the deal that sent Joe McGrath to Edmonton from Saskatchewan. The Riders traded McGrath after he made it clear he didn’t want to be in Saskatchewan — just four months after he left the Eskimos in free agency. That prompted this bit from Riders DT Scott Schultz, also of Moose Jaw, in a CBC Regina interview:

“Man, I’m gonna start saying I’m from Grand Forks because he’s giving Moose Jaw a bad name! I don’t know, whatever. He’s got his own druthers and I wish him the best. We definitely don’t want any miserable players around here. If he was miserable or really unhappy then I’m glad that he got his way and he’s outta here because we don’t want that on our team.

“I don’t know, what do we play them, 2, 3, 4 times this year? It’s going to be fun!”

— Tait