Harris out, Elks using rookie QB

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This article was published 17/09/2021 (1480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been a model of good health, all things considered, this season. Unfortunately for their opponents, that hasn’t always been the case.

In the Banjo Bowl win last Saturday, the Roughriders were missing three defensive starters to begin the game, as well as a starting receiver, and had their quarterback, Cody Fajardo, knocked out of the game early in the second half with a concussion. Now, just days away from the first of three games in four weeks against the Edmonton Elks, quarterback Trevor Harris has been added to the six-game injury list with an injured neck.

Harris is far and away the most valuable piece on the Elks. When he’s on his game, as we saw a couple weeks ago when he threw for 398 yards and four touchdowns in a 32-20 win over the Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton is tough to beat. With Harris now out for the foreseeable future, it’s up to rookie quarterback Taylor Cornelius to pick up the slack.

“The most I know, so far, about him is that he was in the XFL with (Elks head coach) Jaime (Elizondo),” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said following a rainy practice Thursday. “That’s about it.”

A quick Google search confirmed as much that Cornelius, who played college at Oklahoma State and spent time with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2019, was a member of the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers, where Elizondo was the offensive co-ordinator. Cornelius started four games with the Vipers, going 78-for-123 (63 per cent) passing for 858 yards, with four touchdowns compared to six interceptions. He’s also a proven threat on the ground, with 17 rushes for 114 yards — an impressive 6.7 yards per carry — and three touchdowns.

The Bombers may not know a lot about Cornelius at the moment, but they’re going to get a healthy dose of the 25-year-old over the next month.

FURTHER FINES: The CFL needed a bit more time to dole out supplementary punishment for a fight that broke out between the Bombers and Roughriders during the Banjo Bowl.

Thursday the league made public its player discipline report.

Bombers running back Andrew Harris was fined for “grabbing Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Christian Campbell’s facemask in a reckless and unsafe manner.” Bombers offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais was also fined “for his involvement in instigating the altercation between the two teams.”

The melee happened just before halftime, following a one-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Sean McGuire.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton