Battle for jobs heats up as season opener draws near

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This article was published 17/06/2015 (3762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT will be the last audition, the final chance to impress the Winnipeg Blue Bombers brass when the lights are on and the scoreboard is flashing.

Maybe that explains why the list of walking wounded in Bomberland shrunk again Tuesday, just a couple of days before the club’s second and final pre-season game Friday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Investors Group Field. Back at work for Tuesday’s session were defensive backs Demond Washington, Bruce Johnson and Don Unamba, further blurring what has been an outstanding camp battle for jobs in the secondary.

Centre Dominic Picard took the morning off — “vet day” is how head coach Mike O’Shea described it — while right tackle Marc Dile remains on the sidelines.

O’Shea said Dile would likely not suit up on Friday against the Ticats, opening the door wider for Jace Daniels or Corey Lewis to stake a claim to the right tackle job.

“We like what we know about him,” said O’Shea of Dile. “Now we need to see him compete. We’ll take it from there.”

The Bombers also continue to move pieces around in the secondary, but O’Shea said that is partly because they want to exhaust every opportunity to evaluate what looks to be a deep pool of talent.

“Without going over everybody’s defensive system, I’d say most teams in the league like that versatility,” said O’Shea. “We believe all through training camp across the CFL defensive backs are taking reps at different positions. Because of your limited roster, you’ve got to be able to fix it when something breaks.

“We’re trying to put the best group out there together, the one that works well together. If you find a good football player, if you find a guy that you really like and you’re faced with a situation where he is behind Chris Randle, are you just going to release him or are you going to give him an opportunity to make our team in another spot? That’s part of it, too.”

The Bombers have yet to set up a plan for their quarterbacks yet, but expect both Drew Willy and Brian Brohm to get reps while Robert Marve and Josh Portis battle for the third spot on the depth chart.

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University of Manitoba Bison product Jordan Yantz was the one pivot who didn’t play last week in Toronto.

Asked what his plan for the quarterbacks was Friday, O’Shea said, “We’re not sure yet. We haven’t worked out the rotation.”

Defensive tackle Zach Anderson left practice late, removing his knee brace and propping up his left leg as the session ended.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait