Today’s training camp report

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2010 (5655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FYI

SICK BAY FULL: Already battling the usual assortment of hamstring pulls and wonky hinges, the Bombers were hit hard Friday as a dozen players had to skip the practice sessions with the flu.

MIA were O-linemen Obby Khan, Steve Morley, Luke Fritz and Chris Greaves, D-lineman Dorian Smith, defensive backs Alex Suber, Shawn Gallant and LaVar Glover, receivers Chris Davis and Terrence Edwards, linebacker Courtney Smith and kicker Alexis Serna.

The Bombers shaved about an hour off practice and now have their digits crossed that their prospects will be good to go on Sunday.

QB ROTATION: Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice said Buck Pierce and Steven Jyles will each get a quarter in the first half and one series each in the third quarter before giving way to Adam DiMichele and Alex Brink. The QBs have spent the last couple of days getting accustomed to the new headset-to-helmet transmitters that will debut this season.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE: Don’t expect the Bombers or Als to showcase a whole lot of their playbooks on Sunday as they concentrate on evaluating their prospects.

“We’re going to try to be, I don’t want to say vanilla, but we want to see people play man coverage,” said LaPolice. “We want to see people run down and cover kicks, we want to see people execute and see if they understand simple schemes.”

LEFTOVERS: With Serna sick, punter Mike Renaud handled field goals while rookie defensive back/linebacker Giancarlo Rapanaro was doing the kicking off… Stamps QB Barrick Nealy has left the team for personal reasons. “He is dealing with some personal, severe personal problems. I’m optimistic that he can get it all sorted out and get back on the field,” Stamps’ GM/head coach John Hufnagel told reporters after practice Friday. Calgary has Henry Burris, Drew Tate and Zac Champion in camp and will give Nealy a couple of days before recruiting another pivot… Roughrider QB Darian Durant pranked his own teammates and everyone in Rider Nation by showing up Friday with a white cast on his throwing hand, a day after panic spread with word had broken his thumb. He didn’t bust his thumb and should be good to go soon… Now that Toronto has landed the 2012 Grey Cup — made official on Friday — how long before Winnipeg tries to secure a championship game in the new stadium? By the way, security fences are up at the U of M site and as soon as there is power, the club hopes to have a video feed of construction… Esks got a huge boost to their attack this week with the return of Kelly Campbell. He had 1,223 yards and seven TDs for Edmonton in ’08 before heading to the NFL.

–Ed Tait