Injury sidelines slotback Moore

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This article was published 04/09/2014 (4031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A defeat against the rival Saskatchewan Roughriders Sunday also exacted a cost for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers: more injuries.

Receiver Nick Moore is banged up again.

A suspected ankle injury is likely to keep one of Drew Willy’s favourite targets out for some time.

“He’ll be a few weeks, maybe more, we’ll see,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said Wednesday.

Willy, who was rattled around and helped off at one stage on Sunday, will be fine, the coach said.

The quarterback had X-rays, O’Shea confirmed.

“I haven’t seen the results of those but I’m pretty sure he’s good,” the coach said. “It’s all precautionary. I think he’s dodged a bullet there and I think he’s tough.”

Other players who may not suit up for Sunday’s Banjo Bowl are defensive lineman Kashawn Fraser (knee) and linebackers Ian Wild (shoulder) and Rene Stephan (hamstring).

O’Shea said Wild and Stefan are doubtful.

“We don’t know yet (on Wild),” he said. “I’m always hopeful. The smart thing would be to let him rest for another week for sure.”

O’Shea also said he’s expecting defensive lineman Jason Vega and receiver Romby Bryant to be back in the lineup this week.

So what if West is best

O’SHEA would not be drawn into any discussion Wednesday about East versus West in the CFL.

Winnipeg is 1-3 vs. their division rivals in the West so far this season.

“I tend not to pay attention to the idea of East vs. West,” he said. “Every game’s a game we want to win and we’re expecting to win. I don’t try to shelter the players from western trips or talk to them differently or make a bigger deal of it than it is.

“We think about our assignments, what we need to do to win, about corrections from the prior week and then we focus on the opponent and what we can do to beat them.

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“All the other stuff is information that’s noise.”

When pressed, O’Shea shut off the idea that playing the West is different.

“I don’t see how it’s going to make my guys play harder,” he said. “You can’t coach anything about 1-3 vs. the West. There’s no coaching points there that make our players better.”

— Tim Campbell