Thou shalt overcome many injuries

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This article was published 30/07/2010 (5537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It goes against one of the key commandments in the coaching bible — ‘Thou shalt not complaineth about injuries’ — but there must have been times this week when Winnipeg Blue Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice glanced at all the wounded at practice and thought:

‘What the…?’

And so it went again Thursday as the Bombers completed their final full workout before Saturday’s date in Calgary against the Stampeders with the bodies piling up on the sideline like it was the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan.

There was Shawn Gallant sitting beside Glenn January — both on the nine-game injured list — with punter Mike Renaud, out with a knee injury, standing nearby. Marcellus Bowman (hand) watching Courtney Smith take turns in his spot at linebacker. Shoot, even Armond Willis — the rookie defensive end replacing Odell Willis — was seen getting his thigh taped during the proceedings.

Overcrowded

We’re not saying sick bay is getting overcrowded, but if the Bombers took their team picture right now it would probably look like an X-ray.

"What am I going to do? Stay at home?" said LaPolice with a chuckle after practice. "Hey, you just find a way to win. Every team in the CFL, I’m sure, has something. Our job is to find a way to win. We have good players here and we kept the players here who are backups so they have an opportunity to compete. (Defensive tackle) Moton Hopkins is a backup player for us and did pretty well in that game (against the Eskimos).

"We’ve overcome adversity with injuries. It’s part of the game so we can’t use it as an excuse, we’ve got to find a way to win with the players here. That’s the message we preach from Day 1."

Preaching it is one thing, putting it into practice is another altogether.

Football players speak often of cohesion, of chemistry and how the familiarity of lining up beside the same man week to week strengthens both. Bomber linebacker Ike Charlton isn’t about to get all nostalgic, but there was a time — see 2009 — when he could look over at Lenny Walls, point or nod, and they instantly understood what the defensive call was or their assignment.

But with Charlton having lined up beside Alex Suber, then Clint Kent and now Suber again through the first four weeks, that chemistry suffers. And occasionally a player can be far too consumed in making sure his compadre is in the right place at the right time and forget his own duties.

"It happens, it happens a lot," said Charlton. "From my perspective, playing beside Kelly Malveaux for so long I didn’t even have to say anything to him. I’d look at him, he’d point at something and we just understood. Last year playing with Lenny (Walls) we also got to that point.

"Now it’s different guys… you can start worrying, but once you do that, that’s when you start messing up. You’ve just got to hope they’re prepared and you take them in to watch film early to help get them prepared."

The upside?

It’s not like the new guys have hurt the Bombers with their play so far this season. Hopkins, as LaPolice suggested, was superb in last week’s win over Edmonton. Same goes for Kent, who had subbed in for the rookie Suber.

Perhaps it’s having survived through a swack of injuries last year in Saskatchewan, but LaPolice has also instructed his staff to make sure that every player takes reps in practice. It might not help for cohesion, but the last guy on the roster will at least understand the concept.

Besides, as Chartlon explains, if you want to earn your paycheque you’d better be ready to step up and fill a hole in the line when the man in front of you drops.

"It’s professional football and we don’t have time to wait on guys," Charlton said. "When your number is called you’ve got to be ready."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca