Main Training Camp Comments and Discussion

Started by ModAdmin, May 06, 2023, 05:06:19 AM

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theaardvark

With the number of bodies in camp, and the depth of the veterans knoiwledgebase of the O and D we run (continuity unsurpassed in the league), I'm all for resting them as long as possible. 

The more reps we get on the rookies / newbies, the better book we have on tehm for whether they make the AR, PR or the speed-dial list.  And we will need a deep PR and speed dial list. 

Shortening the TC and only 2 preseason games does not make for good, sound teams game one of the regular season.  The league should have extended PR's for the first 3 weeks of the season, not the last ones.
Unabashed positron.  Blue koolaid in my fridge.  I wear my blue sunglasses at night.  Homer, d'oh.

Throw Long Bannatyne

Quote from: TBURGESS on May 24, 2023, 05:39:36 PM
Anybody remember a training camp when so many starters got the first week off?

I think O'Shea is more focussed on the end of the season than he is the start, probably a new health management strategy he's implementing.  I know they did not like the spat of injuries they suffered through last season and they're probably trying to find a way to avoid that scenario.  Expect to see even more vets. skipping practices throughout the year.

DM83

Days off?!!!

In reality Football is a brutal game.  If you as a player can avoid serious injuries. or if given time to heal that is what it should be.  It already is a kind of miracle we have Biggy still playing a position where collisions are nearly every play.  I am afraid for Andrew Harris.  There is no heroism in ramming into people with your head as the initial point of contact.

Hoss Humard. Fun to watch.  What is he up to now!

The DBs RBs and receivers suffer leg injuries.  While they or some of the "they" can come back, and perform significantly well, I am scared for them that the "loss of a tenth of a second"  ends the career, as a top performer in any league.

What I liked about the Bombers these past few years, is that as was said already, they bring in a ton of guys, and they can rotate  guys in.

In reality, the Grey Cup teams usually have a number of guys who are fresh., just my opinion.

Pigskin

JJ94, AB4, and Grant were all banged up at the end of the season. June 9th is our season opener. How many practices do these three need?
Don't go through life looking in the rearview mirror.

RyGuy13

A week/week and a half before game 1 you?ll start seeing all the vets/starters participating in all practices (unless injured). Regular reps for the new guys will only benefit them and the coaches for who should be on this team. Sounds like there?s some intriguing names to watch for in these preseason games coming up.
At SB, #85..MILT STEEEGAAALLLL

Waffler

No reason to panic. All the players we are talking about are on the field, no casts, no limps, nothing visibly wrong.  I think it is just resting the vets with minor hurts that have already made the club. Smart football.
Buried in the essentially random digits of pi, you can find your eight-digit birthdate. (Is that a wink from God or just a lot of digits?) - David G. Myers
__________________________________________________
Everything seems stupid when it fails.  - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Waffler

Pretty cold in the stands today. Funny thing about that was I could hear Jefferson saying his trademark "come on down to Winnipeg" to another player. Some went back in to change to long pants.

Dru Brown is separating himself from the other QB's. He is throwing some nice passes somewhat consistently. Collaros is still the king though, by a wide margin. The rest I am praying never have to throw a pass in a game. Like Forest Gump's box of chocolates you never what you are going to get. Physically they can do it but sorely lacking experience and knowledge of the CFL.

All the usual suspects are making good plays. Demski and Lawler I notice in particular with Collaros throwing. They make it look so easy.

The only thing saving Liegghio right now is that he can do all 3 jobs. We'll see what the coaches decide but there are some capable people here.

Buried in the essentially random digits of pi, you can find your eight-digit birthdate. (Is that a wink from God or just a lot of digits?) - David G. Myers
__________________________________________________
Everything seems stupid when it fails.  - Fyodor Dostoevsky

pjrocksmb

Brown is going to be good and will progress this year.  I expect folks to be impatient with him but I believe he will figure it out.  Just need reps.  I'm just worried MOS won't give him enough.

Zach Schnitzer

I?m super concerned Re Jeffcoat. DT said he had the most QB pressures in the league last year. Not sure if that was adjusted for playing time tho.
Quote from: DM83 on May 24, 2023, 05:00:42 PM
A concern for sure.

If Bighill hasn't stepped foot on the field. for him that is a big concern.
Jeffcoat and Rose?  Hmmm.  Big salaries, little playing time.  All things being equal, those guys could get cut. Younger cheaper guys.  Rose was awful last year.
Oliviera?  He had a breakout year last year.  I don't think the club thought he would be  injured.  Bur they have brought in, an American running back.
Eli?  I can hope for the guy,....but I am old school, you can't make the club from the tub.  Did he actually really play and make a contribution, or was he a turnstile.?

Speaking of turnstiles how is Gray doing?  I guess no news is good news.

Starting to get concerned about Jeffcoat.  If any of our DE's (number one draft choice) is the real deal, maybe it's bye-bye.

Pure speculation on my part.  But the Jeffcoat thing is lingering since last year, and when brought back, re-injured whatever it is, or did something new.   The age thing was not anticipated to be an issue, but.......Rose and Jeffcoat, could be in trouble.

#fortheW

ModAdmin

#144
Quick Hits | Training Camp - Day 11

Notes and quotes from Wednesday and Day 11 of Blue Bombers training camp...

OUCH UPDATE:
Receiver Dalton Schoen was back at his post at practice today, one day after sitting out a session. The list of those not practising is long, although it's still to be determined who will make the trip to Edmonton for Saturday's preseason game and who will be left behind in Winnipeg.

Among those not participating on Wednesday were LB Adam Bighill, DT Cam Lawson, CB Winston Rose, LB Kyrie Wilson, DE Thiadric Hanson, RB/rec Greg McCrae, RB Jonathan Rosery, DE Jackson Jeffcoat, OL Tui Eli, RB Brady Oliveira, DB Nick Hallett and CB Desmond Lawrence.

PRAISE FOR THE GOAT:
Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea has always been appreciative of the players who have rose to prominence and worked their way up through the depth chart. He gushed about veteran FB Mike Miller when asked about him on Wednesday.

Here's the coach when asked by Jeff Hamilton of The Free Press why Miller - the CFL's all-time leader in special-teams tackles - has been so successful for so long.:

"It's the type of guy he is," O?Shea said. ?He's obviously talented in terms of his athleticism and whatever you're going to measure is not going to make a difference. You put him in any sport and he will find a way to be successful in that sport. He can do a lot of different things. Then the way he's made up physically, there's something about that, too, that just allows him no matter his weight and size, he's really stout for his size. Looking at him and the way he plays, when there's contact to be had he?s really, really stout through the core. Smart, loves the game, does it for the right reasons. He's just really good. Really good and he has been for a long time.

"The story is, undrafted, and we're talking to Jeff Cummins (the head coach at Acadia University and a guest coach at Blue Bombers camp) who is coaching him and he says 'I don't know where or how or what, but that guy is going to play special teams in the CFL.' You put on the film and he's a safety, but he's running down on kickoff and he's just annihilating everybody and making plays. And it didn't stop when he got here.

"More than anything else - and he has all these other attributes - it's the type of man he is. It's just he?s wired that way."

THERE'S JOHNNY:
We spoke to RB Johnny Augustine on Tuesday as he was one of the last players to leave the field about fighting and scratching his way for a roster spot.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/05/23/johnny-augustine-may-23/

Augustine earned praise from O'Shea a day later when asked about his work on special teams - he hadn't played on any specials during his days at the University of Guelph - and learning to accept his role on the squad.

"We appreciated him quite early on for what he could do as a tailback physically, but Johnny has always been that type of guy that just trusts in his ability and he trusts in the coaches and the team," O'Shea said. "And the type of guy Johnny is, he's going to take his role and whatever he's given he?s going to make the most of. We don't stock our room full of complainers. He's not going to complain at all. He's going to be ready. Those two things are very important for a guy who's taking less reps than another guy."

NEXT: The Blue Bombers final practice session of the week before the club flies to Edmonton on Friday goes Thursday at IG Field from 10:45 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. Practice is open to the public.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/05/24/quick-hits-training-camp-day-11/
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one." - John Wooden

ModAdmin

"This is my football home. This is where I want to be."

Chris Kolankowski thought about quitting. There's no shame in saying that now, especially as he is essentially locked into the starting centre gig with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and with that career-crossroads moment having long since passed.

It's also part of what makes his story both so endearing and enthralling.

A sixth-round draft pick of the Toronto Argonauts in 2016, Kolankowski was released by the Boatmen during camp in 2019 and then lost another season due to the pandemic in 2020 after signing with the Blue Bombers. He worked his way through the Blue Bombers depth chart from a practice roster player to his first game in November of 2021 - a span of 1,007 days between action.

And so, excuse the 31-year-old veteran - who made 15 starts at centre last year after Michael Couture was injured - if he isn't a little territorial about his starting role now. He waited for his shot, after all, and will scrap and fight to keep it.

That's Kolankowski in a nutshell. Yes, there's a great deal of skill - a physical toughness mixed with technique - required to play in football's trenches. But healthy doses of battle, of grit and scrappiness are also required. And that's a characterization of Kolankowski's game he relishes.

"I'd embrace that," he said of that description. "I'd said I'm a by-any-means-necessary guy. If I get tripped up on a play, I'm getting up as fast as I can to hit the first colour I can find. It's not that I don't have technique, it's just that I play with a certain amount of desperation in my game."

That 'desperation' has been present for years. Kolankowski has always been tagged as under-sized, even dating back to his college days when he arrived at York University as a 220-pound centre. He was recognized as the school's top lineman in 2015 and won a hard work and character award during his days at York.

All of that, however, was certainly put to the test over 2019-20. A player's love for the game can only last for so long, especially as the doors of opportunity keep getting slammed shut.

"There were a lot of days when I was working out alone in the gym or doing the construction job with 14-hour days," he said. "Then it was straight to the gym, followed by straight home to bed and then do it all over again. There were a lot of days where I questioned whether it was time to move on."

Two things kept him fighting - his own stubbornness, and a conversation he had with his parents, particularly his father Roman, who once played for the Oshawa Hawkeyes football team before opting to pursue a career as a plant and production manager. First, the stubbornness...

More on Chris Kolankowski here!
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one." - John Wooden

ModAdmin

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one." - John Wooden

GOLDMEMBER

All Tait to do player features.
Zero on field reporting.
I am unfulfilled.
I LOSHT MY MEMBER IN AN UNFORTUNATE SHMELTING ACCSHIDENT!

Jesse

Quote from: GOLDMEMBER on May 25, 2023, 03:23:10 PM
All Tait to do player features.
Zero on field reporting.
I am unfulfilled.

Samsies.
My wife is amazing!

kkc60

Quote from: GOLDMEMBER on May 25, 2023, 03:23:10 PM
All Tait to do player features.
Zero on field reporting.
I am unfulfilled.
yeah getting any training camp notes outside of Derek Taylor?s has been difficult and disappointing to say the least