WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed defensive back Justin Warden to the practice roster on Wednesday.
Warden, 25, was the Bombers sixth round selection in the 2015 CFL Draft. He was cut in training camp last year and went back to school with the Bishop’s Gaiters. But an injury limited him to just four games where he recorded 13 tackles.
“We liked Justin Warden last year when we had him in camp,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “We sent him back to school, he had some eligibility and our roster was such that we needed him to go back to school and unfortunately he suffered a little injury there. He’s worked his way back, but boy, he’s one of those kids you hated to send back.”
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Both running back Andrew Harris and linebacker Ian Wild missed practice for the second straight day after suffering injuries in last week’s Banjo Bowl. But O’Shea intends to give Harris every chance to play against the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, even if he doesn’t step on the practice field this week.
“I’m going to give him every opportunity to go,” said O’Shea. “And there’s a variety of ways to stack the roster after that.”
The Bombers will likely to try to find a spot on the roster for running back Tim Flanders as insurance in case Harris can’t hold up for the full four quarters. But Flanders is an international which would require a change elsewhere to get him on the field to maintain their Canadian ratio.
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Receiver Clarence Denmark also figures to get back on the active roster this week after being a healthy scratch in the Banjo Bowl. Denmark was the odd man out when Ryan Smith returned from the six game injured list, but Smith is back on the shelf for the next couple weeks with a thumb injury.
O’Shea said Denmark handled the benching like a true team player.
“Like we thought he would, extremely professional,” said O’Shea. “He’d be pissed off for a second and get back to work a second later.”
“You deal with it you know,” Denmark said. “We’re still winning games and that’s all that matters. You got to be a team player and it takes the whole team to win.”
Before getting yanked from the lineup, Denmark made 23 catches for 355 with three touchdowns in just four games.
“The things I can’t control I’m not going to worry about,” said Denmark. “I’m just going to control that every time I’m on the field that I’m giving my best effort and that’s the only thing that matters.”
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