WINNIPEG – After a long off-season the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be back on the field this week. The Bombers are holding their annual three day mini-camp starting on Wednesday and players have already started to arrive.
Quarterbacks Matt Nichols, Dan LeFevour and Dominique Davis were all signing autographs on Monday, but soon they’ll go from slinging sharpies to slinging footballs, even if the November like weather continues.
“This is pretty much like playoff weather so get used to it now.” said Davis. “It was a shocker. I saw the weather was pretty good last week, I thought maybe I can keep helping bring the sunshine up, but as soon as I got here it snowed.”
“Hopefully it’s like this all week.” Nichols said. “And I look forward to, once this mini-camp gets going, having a lot of these new guys really embrace Winnipeg and Canada and see what it’s all about.”
For Nichols, it’ll be his first pro camp as the clear cut number one guy.
“I’ve been waiting for this season for a long time and I’ve worked extremely hard this off-season.” said Nichols. “Honestly, going into this season feels more normal to me than my last seven seasons have been, because from second grade all the way through college I was always the starting quarterback.”
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While there will be a few familiar faces, the Bombers mini-camp roster is mostly made up of players looking for their first professional job.
“It’s a challenge for every rookie.” said Davis. “It was a challenge for me cause the rule change and the size of the field and the throws.”
“You’re kinda throwing them in the deep end a little bit, especially with the receivers.” Nichols said. “A lot of Americans coming up trying to learn the waggle and just the size of the field, the spacing of the field. It’s a learning curve, but you can see who can pick it up quickly and who doesn’t.”
After five seasons in the CFL LeFevour is not so worried about the Canadian rules and more concerned with nailing down Paul LaPolice’s playbook.
“I got to play catch up.” said LeFevour. “This is my ninth team in eight years so it’s something I’ve had to learn to do, learn to adapt to. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
The three will be among the 35 players that are expected to be on the field with the first two practice sessions scheduled for Wednesday.
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