Today’s Bomber Report

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/10/2010 (5456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

— There will be a new face among the big eaters when the Bombers take on the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday night.

With Brendon LaBatte on the shelf with a shoulder/bicep issue — an injury that will put the third-year offensive lineman out of commission for the rest of the season — the club dipped into a rival’s practice roster pool Wednesday, plucking OL Matt Morencie off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats reserve list. Winnipeg is now required to activate the 22-year-old to the 46-man roster for Saturday’s contest.

The Bombers have had Morencie on their radar since the 2009 CFL Draft (he was taken in the third round, 21st overall, by the B.C. Lions). That year, the Mike Kelly/John Murphy tandem took over the draft operation from longtime Canadian evaluator Bobby Dyce and passed on Morencie — despite suggestions from others within the Bombers organization.

While the Bombers grab a highly-touted Canadian at a position they need to get younger at, the timing of the move is curious.

Over the weekend, the 6-foot-2, 267-pound lineman got involved in a bizarre post-game incident with Windsor Star columnist Bob Duff on the sidelines at a University of Windsor football game. According to eyewitness accounts, Morencie verbally berated Duff before taking the reporter’s notepad and tearing pages out of it — all of this taking place in front of other media members.

Morencie, whose father Mike is the head coach of the U of W Lancers, has not commented on the incident, but it’s safe to assume the unimpressed Ticats opted to let him go to the Bombers rather than put him in uniform this weekend.

— LABATTE IS BLUE: He doesn’t really know what the injury is and he doesn’t know what the recovery timetable is, so all LaBatte can do these days is just sit and wait.

The personable O-lineman suffered the shoulder/bicep injury while trying to make a tackle in Toronto’s 27-8 win last Saturday. He says the toughest thing to deal with over the week hasn’t been the pain, but rather the mystery surrounding the problem. He was scheduled to meet with doctors late Wednesday afternoon.

“They kind of have it narrowed down,” he said. “I don’t think it’s anything catastrophic or that anything is completely wrecked in there that’s going to require surgery. I don’t think anything is torn, but there’s definitely something not right in there.”

Possible fill-ins for LaBatte’s left guard position include Luke Fritz, Chris Greaves, and Morencie.

— SEARS IN STORE: With a number of defensive backs on the sidelines this week, import practice-roster player Johnny Sears has been a little more noticeable at workouts.

“I don’t know if he’s ready or not, but we’re preparing that process to make sure we get an opportunity to take a look at him — whether it’s this weekend or next week,” Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice said.

— Adam Wazny

Sick bay

DB Jonathan Hefney and Deon Beasley both sat out Wednesday’s workout with illness. Both are expected to be ready for Saturday. Also sitting out was DT Dorian Smith, who has been a little banged up of late.

Quotable

“Joey knew where he wanted to go; he’s got to locate the ball a little better.” — Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice on how rookie starter Joey Elliott is progressing at practice this week.

Marcus of all trades

Seeing time in both the white offence jersey and the navy defence shirt was WR Marcus Howell. According the LaPolice, Howell is the designated emergency defensive back for the Bombers. Howell was preparing in case S Ian Logan is unavailable.