Bombers coaches schooling players on rule change regarding contact

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This article was published 04/06/2015 (4013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paws off.

The CFL’s new edict for 2015 for receivers and defenders beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage is another substantial rule adjustment for the league.

Contact, apparently apart from some incidental, minor brushes, is forbidden beyond the five yards and it’s something that’s a focus at Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp.

“It’s a new rule and in football and even in life, things change and you have to adjust,” said Bombers defensive back Matt Bucknor. “For us, that what’s we have to do.

“They say after five you can’t contact or it’s a penalty, so we won’t contact after five and we’ll avoid all penalties at all costs the best we can.”

This is not a switch that gets flipped.

“We’re still learning, a lot of us,” said Bucknor. “Coach today kind of got on me about a couple of plays, saying ‘Hey Buck, that’s (pass interference) now, so be careful.’

“So for me, it’s about being just a little bit more in tune and alert and knowing my landmarks and that hey, at this point I have to play with my feet and I can’t jam. We’re learning the technique and playing fast.”

Bombers DB Bruce Johnson didn’t sound like he favoured the change either but he wasn’t grousing about it.

“Yeah, it’s restrains us a little bit as far as how we play, how we used to play, but hey, if you want to play and play it right, you’ve got to go by the rules so that’s what we’ll have to do,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s practice on the University of Manitoba campus. “Right now, we’re still working on it, trying to get it down pat.

“It’s not going to come overnight. Hopefully by the first game of the season, we’ll have it down pat. (We’re doing) individual and group drills. We’re doing things to try to keep our eyes mainly on the hip and not so much on the shoulders, little things like that.”

There is no word yet on CFL officials being equipped with fingerprinting kits. Enforcement standards are not yet known.

“I don’t know how the referees are going to call it,” Bucknor said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to any of them while they were here. We’ll definitely have a word or two, and go from there.

“I’m assuming it could be a judgment call based on the group working the game but for me, it’s going to be about working my technique.”

Johnson said the message he’s getting from his coaches is not to tempt fate.

“They’re saying, ‘Don’t even give ’em a chance to call it,’ ” he said. “After five, just don’t even touch him.”

The rule applies to both sides of the ball and not surprisingly, offensive players may be a bit more eager for the new standard.

That would include Bombers receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino.

“I think it’s a great, great change because I felt the last two years the CFL was becoming, how should I say it, a bang kind of route all the time and really physical,” Feoli-Gudino said Wednesday. “I think it’s going to allow the skill players to get open and not be slowed down so much and I think it’s going to be great for the show.”

Feoli-Gudino said he’s not expecting an open runway for receivers because they, too, will also have to employ new tactics.

“I think we’ve got to get off the jam before five yards and after that, it’s that we know we can get close to the DB and he won’t put his hands on us,” he said. “So basically, right now, I don’t see a huge difference because the refs are not in and we’re still going to see how the refs judge it during the games.

“I think it’ll be a big adjustment for everyone, the refs and the players, but I’m looking forward to it.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca