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Pigrome breaks out in CFL debut

Tyrrell Pigrome certainly knows how to make a strong first impression.

In the thick of a battle for the third quarterback spot on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster, Pigrome made the most of his first taste of CFL game action, helping his new team earn a 25-23 road win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday. It was the Bombers first preseason game of the year and a breakout performance for Pigrome, who rushed for two touchdowns while also making some plays down field with his arm.

“That was a great experience. Of course, you probably have a little jitters. You make sure you’re trying to do everything right,” Pigrome said Tuesday, as the Bombers returned to training camp after a two-day break. “I had some good plays and at the same time I felt like I had some bad ones. But it was the best opportunity just to be out there, have some fun with the guys and just come out with a win.”

Pigrome was the third quarterback to enter the game, behind starter Zach Collaros and No. 2 pivot Dru Brown. The Elks had just evened the score, 17-17, with a field goal early in the fourth quarter when Pigrome was called into action.

Blue escape with narrow win

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened the preseason with a narrow 25-23 win over the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Bombers survived a late scare by the Elks, blocking a 52-yard field-goal in the dying seconds to seal the win. Winnipeg wraps up the preseason by welcoming the Saskatchewan Roughriders to town on Friday, before kicking off the regular-season at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats a week later, on June 9.

Here are some observations, notes and analysis from the win.

1) There were definitely some eyebrows raised when the Bombers released a veteran-filled roster for the game, including dressing starting quarterback and two-time reigning CFL most outstanding player Zach Collaros. Collaros lasted longer than many would have expected, playing in five series over the first quarter and the first few minutes of the second. It was a slow start, beginning with two of three total two-and-outs with Collaros behind centre, before the Bombers No. 1 pivot eventually found his groove, orchestrating a pair of touchdown drives. Collaros finished the day 5-for-8 passing, for 93 yards and a touchdown – and, most importantly, left the game healthy.

Game time for Bombers hopefuls

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have spent two gruelling weeks battling their own teammates and are ready to smack some pads against real opponents in what will be a critical affair for veterans and rookies looking to secure a job.

The Bombers are in Edmonton to play the Elks on Saturday afternoon, the first of two pre-season games for the Blue and Gold. The second exhibition tilt is back in Winnipeg against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 2, which will act as the final tuneup before the start of the 2023 CFL regular season just six days later.

“We look to guys to know what they’re doing out there, compete, make plays and set themselves apart,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea following Thursday’s training camp workout, when asked what he’s looking for from an evaluation standpoint. The Bombers held no practice or media availability Friday.

“On film, it would look like they’re doing everything right, that all the assignments are correct. They’re efficient in their movement. It might not add up to tackles or catches or whatever, but they’re always right and always in the right spot.”

Steep learning curve for Bombers newcomers

When you’re able to bring back a majority of your team from one season to the next, much like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have done for years, it creates several advantages.

Bennett in his element at first pro camp

Anthony Bennett is two weeks into his first professional football training camp and it’s exactly what he thought it would be. That doesn’t mean it’s been an easy ride – quite the opposite, actually – but the recent draft pick of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been soaking up every moment.

“It’s more surreal, that you work this hard to get there, but it’s nothing surprising,” Bennett told the Free Press following practice Thursday. “You knew it was going to be faster, it’s going to be harder. Guys are going to be taller. Guys are going to be bigger. Guys are going to be weirdly smaller but they’re faster. It’s all these different scenarios that you prep your mind for and you’re OK with.”

The Bombers selected Bennett, a bruising defensive end whose collegiate career included stints at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Regina, with the eighth overall pick in the CFL Draft earlier this month. The 26-year-old grew up in Florida but was eligible to be selected because his mother is from Regina.

The last couple of weeks have been a crash course in learning the Bombers defensive and special-teams systems and Bennett has been like a sponge. That he gets to work alongside some of the CFL’s top pass-rushers in Willie Jefferson and Jackson Jeffcoat has only helped his development.

Augustine always ready to be Johnny on the spot

Johnny Augustine isn’t one to sweat the small stuff. He does pride himself on doing all the little things to ensure he’s in peak shape.

Bombers’ hard-nosed centre takes long road to starting job

Life can come at you fast. Just ask Winnipeg Blue Bombers centre Chris Kolankowski, who over the span of four years has jumped from the doghouse to the penthouse in his three-down football career.

It was around this time in 2019 that Kolankowski was released by the Toronto Argonauts during training camp. He had been drafted by the Argos in the sixth round, 49th overall, in 2016, and had played in more than 20 games with the CFL club, including winning the Grey Cup as a rookie in 2017.

“I had to start looking for other jobs,” Kolankowski told the Free Press following Bombers training camp practice on Wednesday. “After getting cut, I probably worked on football for a couple months, but eventually you got to find something to pay the bills.”

The 31-year-old missed the entire 2019 campaign. He worked in geotechnical drilling, which is a fancy way of saying he had a job in construction. His new life consisted of working anywhere from eight to 16 hours per day, going to the gym, then home to eat and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

Bombers Clements, Wade keen to take advantage of opportunity

Malik Clements knows just as well as anybody how quickly an opportunity can arise.

Clements signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ahead of the 2022 CFL season to provide depth at the weak-side linebacker position. He would end up doing much more than that, dressing for 14 games — 11 of them starts, including the West Final and Grey Cup — after Kyrie Wilson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in camp.

Fast-forward to today and Clements is back at camp. Wilson is also in the mix – though he’s still recovering from his injury and is expected to miss at least the first few weeks – as well as some rookies that have signed as free agents, much like Clements did two years ago when he got his start in the CFL with the Edmonton Elks.

“I always look at things as competition. But, really, it’s against myself,” Clements told the Free Press earlier this week. “I’m hard on myself to the point I’m trying to be better than yesterday. Just like last year, if the opportunity presents itself, I’ve got to make sure I’m ready to take full advantage it because we all have one common goal and that’s to win. With the game of football, it’s tough and injuries happen, so it’s always that next-man-up mentality and you’ve got to stay ready.”

Blue Bombers baby boom

While his teammates were battling through the first week of training camp, Jake Thomas was on a special assignment back home.

Thomas, a hard-nosed defensive tackle and the longest-tenured member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, now in his 11th season, has been on daddy daycare duty for the first parts of camp. He and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their second child and first daughter, Avery, to the world on May 9.

Indeed, it was a busy and exciting couple of weeks in the Thomas household, where the new father had been helping change diapers and keeping his young son Emmett busy while mom does the feedings and recovers from a C-section birth. Emmett just turned two years old a few days earlier, on May 5.

“There hasn’t been too much sleeping going on,” said a beaming Thomas, who returned to the city on Thursday and was limited in practice Friday as he works to get back into practice shape. “I probably still left a little too early, but my wife gets it. She understands football, and I was just lucky enough that the team allowed me to stay there.”