It was a moment, Friday night, where Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans held their breath.
Quarterback Matt Nichols appeared to be injured after running a quarterback draw for a first down.
He had plenty of room to slide but didn’t until it was too late and took a helmet-to-helmet hit. He returned to the sidelines in shorts and a t-shirt for the remainder of the game.
But on 680 CJOB’s post-game show, Bombers fans got good news. Nichols spoke with the voice of the Bombers, Bob Irving, and said he felt fine despite being sent to concussion protocol in the third quarter.
“I knew I had some good yardage and thought maybe I could run around that defender,” Nichols said. “At that last second, I felt some guys closing in and tried to slide late and ended up in an awkward position.
“I know better than that, I should have slid earlier and it’s something I won’t do ever again.”
The pivot said he understands that he had to be sidelined for the rest of the game, but he had wished he could have been out on the field with his teammates.
“You hate to leave any game, you hate to leave my teammates, you only get so many opportunities to be out there with them,” he said.
Despite missing the rest of the game, Nichols says he expects to be good to go Friday at IG Field when the 3-0 Bombers host the 0-2 Toronto Argonauts.
“Obviously, (I’m) gonna meet with the doctors, but I feel really good right now,” the quarterback said. “It would be a surprise to me if I wasn’t out there. ”
The Bombers can open the season with four straight victories for the first time since 2003 with another win next Friday.
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