Some veterans in for rude surprise on cut-down day

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2009 (5948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT will be a couple days reprieve from the grind for some, more therapy for others. And for those Winnipeg Blue Bombers who will NOT be among the 50 players travelling to Montreal for Tuesday’s final pre-season game, the wait between now and cut-down day will be interminable.

The Bombers head to Montreal this morning with 50 players but minus running backs Joe Smith and Fred Reid, cornerback James Johnson, linebackers Siddeeq Shabazz and Pierre-Luc Labbe, defensive ends Fred Perry and Chase Ortiz, offensive linemen Jean-Francois Morin-Roberge, Matt O’Meara and Thaddeus Coleman, receiver Brock Ralph and defensive tackle Doug Brown. Of that group, Johnson, Shabazz, Labbe, Ortiz, Coleman and Ralph all have an assortment of hurts or are just recovering.

Obviously, those who do suit up will have the best opportunity to earn a regular paycheque when the Bombers declare their 42-man active roster, four-man reserve and likely keep another handful for the practice roster.

“There’s some pretty good battles going on still,” said head coach Mike Kelly Sunday.

“We’ve got some tough decisions to make at the running back spot (both Lavarus Giles and Yvenson Bernard are travelling). We’ve got some tough decisions to make at the linebacker spot. We’ve got seven or eight defensive backs that can play the game.”

Kelly said Stefan LeFors will start the game at quarterback and play the first half and possible the first series of the third quarter. Bryan Randall will play the remainder of the third and one series of the fourth with Richie Williams mopping up the rest of the way.

The Bomber boss also said some veterans may be a tad surprised when the axe falls on cut-down day. If the Bombers have unearthed somebody younger and cheaper, the salary cap is always a factor.

“I spoke with one player today and told him he has a chance to win a job, now it’s up to him to go win that job,” Kelly said.

“It’s probably a shock to some of these guys to hear that terminology because they’ve been starters, whether it was here or elsewhere. Now it’s, ‘Whaddaya mean I’m not getting anointed?’ There are a couple of guys who probably think they are getting anointed that may be surprised at the end of the day.

“That’s the whole thing about having a clean slate: you get to dip your brush into any colour paint and start putting it on that palette and away you go. It’s always a difficult thing when you create the relationships you create with players to finally say, ‘it’s time for you to move on.’ But if you let those relationships overwhelm your decision-making process about the football team then you find yourself with an old football team that’s underperforming. We don’t want to be in that kind of position… ever.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca