QUICK HITS
Notes and quotes from the final day of Blue Bombers Rookie Camp…
THAT’S A WRAP: And now the real fun begins.
The Blue Bombers wrapped up their third and final day of Rookie Camp early Friday afternoon and, following Saturday’s arrivals and medicals for veterans who have yet to report, main camp will open Sunday morning at IG Field, with the session running from 9-11:40 a.m. and open to the public.
The coaching/management staff will meet Friday night/Saturday morning to go over personnel before liking cutting down the numbers before Sunday’s session. Asked if the rookie camp goals were accomplished and “they got what they needed out of it” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:
“Hopefully the players did. What we need out of it is a lot of teaching time and making sure guys get up to speed so that they can show us what they can do against guys who have been doing it in this league.
“I’d hope for the players’ sake that come Sunday they’re going to feel way more comfortable on the field. That is the benefit, really.”
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OLD WOUNDS OPENED: It’s been a talking point since late last November after the one-point loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the Grey Cup and all through the offseason. And how this team has managed the disappointment of that loss is bound to be discussed continually as the Blue Bombers work through training camp and the start of the 2023 campaign.
“I’m sure they’ve rehashed it and figured it out and moved on for now,” O’Shea said. “And then once they get into this setting or the setting out on the field post-practice (for media interviews) I’m sure it’s going to be talked about… whether they choose to answer, who knows?”
O’Shea chuckled for a moment there before adding: “Choose your questions wisely.”
Asked how he would like his returning players to look back at it, O’Shea said: “with disdain.”
“Maybe it was necessary. We’ll see. I don’t know. However they need to look back at it to grow is really what they need to do.
“If it was fuel, it should have been used up by now. They should have burned it all by now and then used it in the offseason. To a man they’re going to have to answer that question their own way. I tell them all the time and firmly believe it, that that inspiration they need is right here in the room with them. I don’t think it’s a scoreboard or anything else.”
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PADS ON: Rookie camp finished up with the players wearing pads. That obviously leads to more physicality and as camp progresses into next week, likely some dustups. Way back when some coaches even encouraged players to scrap if they felt the intensity level was dropping during a session.
Here’s O’Shea on that:
“(Fights) tend to happen. I would never encourage it – that would be counterproductive, really, when you’re trying to build a team. You’re not trying to see what each guy can do physically; you’re trying to lay the foundation of building a team. I would never encourage that. I would obviously try to stop it very quickly because if you lose a guy or somebody gets hurt right there… you’re trying to make a team and earn a living, too.
“I mean, playing physically, getting out of the drill what you need to get out of it… but you can play physically and hit each other hard and still make sure if you’ve got a guy at a real disadvantage, you’re not finishing it.”
It’s about playing hard, in short, but respecting the guy you’re competing against.
“You have to. We’ll look at that, too,” said O’Shea. “If there’s a guy out there that can’t do that, then maybe he can’t be here.”
