Despite getting back on track with back-to-back victories, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers still aren’t standing pat.
It appears the club is making changes at returner and on the defensive line. They are getting set to renew the prairie rivalry in the first of their three meetings against the 4-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are coming off their first loss of the season last week.
The Bombers moved both returners Chris Smith and Myron Mitchell to the practice roster. Mitchell handled the returner duties the first two games before Smith took over.
Now they’ll be using a third different returner with Kody Case handling all the returns in Tuesday’s practice after being transferred to the active roster.
Case had one return in the pre-season but spent the first six weeks on the practice roster. The Bombers are looking to jumpstart their return game, currently ranked dead last in the league in punt returns and second last in kickoff returns.
“It starts with us like, having to open up lanes for these guys,” said special teams coordinator Mike Miller. “But we’d like to see guys catch it and hit it and find those lanes and kinda go in there fearlessly.
“Obviously, the field position is always key, but yeah, on special teams our job is to keep momentum on our side and to gain it, is even more of a plus.”
The other impending change is at the defensive end with TyJuan Garbutt ready to come off the six-game injured list after hurting his ankle in training camp. He’s been back practicing for two weeks now and if he starts as expected, he’ll be the fifth different player to start on the end opposite of Willie Jefferson already this season.
Garbutt had one sack in the pre-season and also dressed for their meaningless regular-season finale last year.
“He should be available,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “We’ll see what that means for our roster. And I don’t know what it’ll bring. I think he’s a very good football player. We liked what he was doing in camp before he got hurt. So, we’ll see if he can’t bring a spark.
“But to say that’ll all of a sudden there’ll be a riches of pass rush. I don’t know that. I think he’s a very good football player.”
And the pass rush is one area they’re looking to improve as it’s been a bit of a struggle for the Bombers defensive line in the first six games. They’re ranked second last in the CFL in sacks with only seven and they’ve also given up by far and away the most rushing yards in the league. But having four different defensive linemen on the six-game injured list certainly hasn’t helped.
“When you rotate guys in and out, in terms of on and off the roster, it makes it a little more challenging,” O’Shea said. “Sometimes, I think we lose sight of the fact that pressure is important too. Just if it doesn’t add up to sacks, pressure is still very good.”
The Bombers are in Regina to tangle with the Riders on Friday night.
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