Decimated D-line? No big deal

Bombers OK with their depth as Smith, Brown probably out

By: Adam Wazny Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011

Defensive tackle Dorian Smith certainly won't play, his walking boot a dead giveaway on his status for the game in Vancouver Saturday.

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Defensive tackle Dorian Smith certainly won't play, his walking boot a dead giveaway on his status for the game in Vancouver Saturday.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/08/2011 (5265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Defensive tackle Dorian Smith certainly won’t play, his walking boot a dead giveaway on his status for the game in Vancouver Saturday.

Doug Brown doesn’t know if he’s going to play — or at least he won’t say — and the head coach, who has yet to really face any on-field adversity in the form of losing two veteran members of the defence at the same time, isn’t too concerned about the situation, either.

Call it another hint on just how comfortable things are inside the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker-room these days, what with a first-place standing in the East Division thanks to a 5-1 record through the first third of the season. The starting interior of the defensive line — a pairing that has been together for three seasons — is on the shelf with two different injuries and no one, not the players, not the coach, seems too worried about it.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Rookie import Bryant Turner, at Tuesday practice, will start Saturday's game in B.C. after an impressive debut which included a sack and forced fumble last week. — JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rookie import Bryant Turner, at Tuesday practice, will start Saturday's game in B.C. after an impressive debut which included a sack and forced fumble last week.

Let’s start with Smith, who suffered a high right ankle sprain in the second quarter of Friday’s win against Edmonton. The team is saying it will be a couple weeks, but the history of the pesky injury suggests Smith will be out longer than that. His timetable might not start until the end of the month.

Brown’s foot injury is a little more of a mystery — or at least that’s how the club is selling it heading into the game with the B.C. Lions.

He didn’t dress last week and hinted again Tuesday (following a practice he didn’t physically participate in) that he would probably be sitting out again.

“It’s a balanced decision, a risk or reward type of thing,” Brown said. “Do I play, try to help the team, and risk doing future damage to the foot, or do I give it another full week to get stronger — it’s a cost-benefit analysis right now.”

The smart money has Brown joining Smith at the airport, waving goodbye to teammates as they depart for the West Coast Friday morning.

With the bye week coming up after the Lions game, both the player and club would find a better payoff in having a healthy Brown ready to go for the Aug. 26 tilt against Hamilton.

A suggestion Brown could be inserted into the lineup before he’s 100 per cent ready because of the injury to Smith — and any concerns regarding the shrinking depth at the large player position — was shot down by Paul LaPolice Tuesday.

“The decision is more based (on Brown’s) health,” the coach said. “It might make it a little easier that there is a bye week coming.”

The idea to keep Brown idling is helped along by the play of the depth in the win over Edmonton. Fourth-year non-import Don Oramasionwu, who many feel is the heir apparent to Brown given his strong play and birth certificate, anchors the new-look Winnipeg D-line interior, with rookie import Bryant Turner lining up beside him.

Turner had a great debut to his CFL career Friday, registering one sack and one forced fumble. The 23-year-old, who’s been on the practice roster for most of the season, was pleased with his play against Edmonton but feels there’s plenty of room for improvement in his defence of the run game.

It’s called ‘line drilling’ and it involves rooting into the ground and not drifting too far off your starting point.

“I like to get up field a lot, but I need to do a better job at staying on the line,” he said.

“I was a bit too anxious at times (Friday); hopefully I can watch for that next time.”

Depth behind those two includes non-import Deji Oduwole and import Jason Vega, who started the year on the active roster as a defensive end. After missing a few weeks with a knee injury, Vega was back in full practise mode Tuesday — working on his interior moves. If he’s up to speed, he could be activated.

The club brought in another D-line option to the mix Tuesday, adding import Rodney Fritz, 24, to their practice roster. It’s highly unlikely he’ll be ready for Saturday.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca