Moore power to them

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2015 (3984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers got some good news Friday with the return of slotback Nick Moore to the practice field.

Moore was injured in last weekend’s Banjo Bowl and hadn’t practiced this week, raising the possibility an already anemic offence was going to be without one of its most potent threats when the Blue play in Montreal against an Alouettes defence that is the second-stingiest in the CFL.

But Moore took all the first-team reps in practice Friday and afterward pronounced himself a player this weekend.

“I wasn’t feeling too good at the start of the week, but I started to feel better and I got to get out there today,” said Moore.

“The coaches didn’t think I needed to be out here for three days (of practice). They threw me a bone and let me know that if I was good to go they were going to play me.”

If Moore dresses, there’s a good chance it will be the first time in 2015 the Bombers will have identical 44-man game-day rosters from one week to the next.

That kind of continuity certainly cannot hurt a team whose 22-7 victory last weekend over the Saskatchewan Roughriders was their first in five games. But head coach Mike O’Shea says he doesn’t think it’s a big deal either way.

“Yes, that can help but I don’t look at it that way,” said O’Shea following his team’s last full practice this week. “I think we have a group of guys who come out and practise every day who are anxiously awaiting their turn. So if you have to make changes, you trust these guys are going to step up and you’re not going to miss a beat.”

Meanwhile, Alouettes GM and head coach Jim Popp announced Friday Jonathan Crompton will get the start Sunday.

It will be the first start for Crompton since he got hurt in Week 1.

TOUGH SLEDDING

Winnipeg, B.C. and Montreal are tied with four wins and the Als are threatening to cross over at season’s end and claim the third playoff spot in the West Division.

With that prospect in play, the CFL’s stats department crunched the numbers this week and found Winnipeg has the toughest remaining schedule of those three teams.

According to the league, the Als’ remaining opponents have a .442 winning percentage, B.C.’s remaining opponents have a .513 winning percentage and Winnipeg’s remaining opponents have a .562 winning percentage.

QB QUOTIENT

With Matt Nichols making his first start for the Bombers last weekend, the club has now used nine starting quarterbacks since 2012 and 17 different starters since 2004. Those are both CFL highs.

TEMPTING MISTRESS

The Bombers have a five-game winning streak against the Als and are 4-0 in their last four visits to Montreal.

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Moore was asked how the Bombers have managed to avoid the pitfalls of nightlife and carousing in Montreal, a city many visiting CFL teams consider the toughest to play in because of all the distractions it provides.

“If you’re one of those guys who would even test those waters, you shouldn’t be up here,” said Moore. “You take care of business during the game and if you stay out there (after the game), you can be an adult and do what you have to do. But you can’t be one of those guys who goes out and tests those waters the day before the game. That’s not what we do.”

The Bombers have chartered a plane for the weekend and will leave immediately following Sunday’s game, which is scheduled to kick off at noon Winnipeg time.

Paul.Wiecek@freepress.mb.ca