He’s rested, ready to pitch in for Blue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/10/2011 (5096 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He was easily the most dominant special teams player during the pre-season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — maybe even the entire CFL.

A force all over the field, Johnny Sears was a wrecking crew on pre-season kick coverage and was making a legitimate claim for a starting job in the Bombers secondary when — in the final minute of the final pre-season game — he sustained a high-ankle sprain that brought it all to a screeching halt.

And with that, we have all been left to wonder what might have been with Sears this season. Until now.

Sears will finally make his long-awaited regular season debut this Friday in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats, fully 13 games into the 2011 season but still much better late than never.

“Finally, I’m going to get a spin out there,” Sears said Wednesday following practice at Canad Inns Stadium. “It hurt. I had high expectations for myself. It weighed me down. But I just kept the faith and knew that things like that happen, it’s the nature of the game and you just try and bounce back as soon as possible…

“It’s been a long time coming.”

And not just for Sears. The Bombers coaching staff was ecstatic with Sears’ pre-season performance and were rubbing their hands in anticipation when he went down.

His return this week — particularly coming as it does in the midst of a slump that has seen Winnipeg lose four of its last five games — is eagerly anticipated.

“He’s certainly someone we thought had a great training camp and certainly would have been on the roster from Day 1,” said Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice. “Now getting him on, he’s an ahtletic kid who really cares and we’re excited to see what he can do.”

So what can he do?

It’s an intriguing question. A free-agent signing by the Cincinnatti Bengals in 2010, Sears played in all four pre-season games before the Bengals made him a late cut. He shipped up to Winnipeg after that and was impressive in the only game he played for the Bombers in 2010, registering four tackles on Oct. 30 against the Edmonton Eskimos.

What remains to be seen now is if the Eastern Michigan product can be an immediate impact player after missing the first two-thirds of the season. Sears thinks he can be. “I believe so. It’s crunch time, so why not?

“I’m working my way in. It will be special teams, helping out whenever I can on certain packages on defence. Trying to provide a spark for my team.”

Sears has been working with the first-team defence this week at weak-side linebacker and expects to be platooning in and out as the situation dictates. A natural cornerback, he says he’s looking forward to getting a little closer look at the action at linebacker.

“Hopefully we call that defence and I get to get into the box in the trenches and have a little fun,” he says.

“Whenever I touch the field, my plan is to make a difference — special teams, defence, whatever.”

NOTES — Ticats starting centre Marwan Hage and safety Milt Collins did not practise on Wednesday and are not expected to play on Friday… Ticats receiver Dave Stala missed the first part of Ticats practice on Wednesday for what are being described as “personal reasons.” He joined his teammates on the field later in the practice… Bombers defensive tackle Dorian Smith was described as “a healthy scratch” by LaPolice on Wednesday… defensive back Alex Suber, who missed practice with a sore neck on Tuesday, returned to practice on Wednesday, as did linebacker Marcellus Bowman (generally banged up). Slotback Terrence Edwards, who missed a workout on Tuesday with a sore hamstring, tried to practise Wednesday but quickly aborted the attempt.

Edwards said his hamstring still felt tight Wednesday and he was given another day off. Edwards has not had a full practice this week, but both the receiver and LaPolice said he is expected to play on Friday.

“It’s just a little tight,” said Edwards. “I don’t want to hurt anything at this point in the season. I couldn’t really get loose. So the trainer told me to come in, try and get loose and get ready for the game.

“At this point I’m going to play. There’s no question in my mind.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca