September 13 practise

[TBURGESS]

Harris is at least 30% of our offense, and we don't have that much offense to begin with. Losing him would be huge, not only for the running game, but for the blocking, the dump passes and his effort which other players feed off. Lochard's an unknown who looked OK in very limited reps. Flanders has even less carries. Am I worried about losing Harris? You bet I am.

[Atomic]

It's fun to think about fantasy scenarios but if Andrew Harris doesn't play this weekend I'll be shocked, shocked I say.  The man is indestructible.

[Slingin Sammy]

Here's a copy and paste from the FreeP this morning, (Sept 14, 2016)

Breathe, Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans. It appears tailback Andrew Harris’s lower-body injury isn’t serious.

Harris, who pulled up lame in the second quarter of the Bombers’ 17-10 Banjo Bowl win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday, was considered day-to-day Tuesday afternoon. Head coach Mike O’Shea downplayed any long-term fears following the team’s practice ahead of Saturday’s game against the visiting Toronto Argonauts.

"We’re at that time of the year where they’ve had piles of reps and they need rest," O’Shea said. "Just wait and see until the end of Day 3 (of practice) to see what it looks like."

Harris, along with linebackers Khalil Bass and Ian Wild, missed Tuesday’s proceedings due to injuries. Their status will be evaluated later this week, but they don’t have to practise to be named to the 46-man roster for Saturday’s game.

Harris appeared to injure his right ankle after a nasty collision. The Winnipeg native had his ankle taped and appeared in two more drives before sitting out the second half.

Wild left the game in the second quarter with an upper-body injury, while Bass played all four quarters, recording six tackles.

Meanwhile, receiver Ryan Smith, who has missed six games this season due to injury, might miss more after suffering a new injury.

Smith, who left Saturday’s game in the third quarter with an upper-body ailment, was spotted at Tuesday’s practice with his right hand wrapped.

O’Shea said he thinks Smith is a couple of weeks away from returning to the lineup.

Veteran defensive back Chris Randle has finished his stint on the six-game injured list with a lower-body injury and could return to game action Saturday.

"We’ll see, I feel good health-wise," Randle said after Tuesday’s practice, in which he was taking first-team reps. "We’ll see how the week goes. It’s been a while, so I got to get my feet under me and see how things go. Hopefully I have a good week."

Edited September 14, 2016 by Slingin Sammy

[Atomic]

Darrin Bauming tweets that Randle might replace Johnny Adams in the starting lineup this week, with T Frederick at the other corner.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Atomic
included tweet

[TrueBlue4ever]

20 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Darrin Bauming tweets that Randle might replace Johnny Adams in the starting lineup this week, with T Frederick at the other corner.

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

[Noeller]

3 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

I haven't heard anything about Heath starting this week. Everything reported so far suggests he's been working with scout team only....

[Jacquie]

4 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

O'Shea has already said Heath won't be playing this week. 

Edited September 15, 2016 by Jacquie

[HardCoreBlue]

1 minute ago, Jacquie said:

O'Shea has already said Heath won't be playing this week. 

That's unfortunate. 'Willy comes off the bench to be intercepted by Heath' has a nice ring to it.

[LimJahey]

We're talking about "practise"?

[LimJahey]

Guaranteed Harris plays

Edited September 15, 2016 by LimJahey

[Tehedra]

1 hour ago, Atomic said:

Darrin Bauming tweets that Randle might replace Johnny Adams in the starting lineup this week, with T Frederick at the other corner.

I too would be excited to see this; nothing against Adams I just don't feel that he has been playing as well as the others.  It may be rust; might just need to get more reps in; could be permanent who knows

[Mike]

Interesting that Frederick has beat out Adams ... I kinda like it.

[Nash00]

I love me some Johnny Adams but with the depth we have there no one can get free passes and Adams has struggled since returning. I will be keeping an eye on how Bruce Johnson plays this week knowing that an established starter can be taken out of the lineup.

[Goalie]

I dunno about Adams struggling exactly. I think he has been ok. I just think Frederick has been better. Sometimes you can have a good player like Adams being replaced by a better player in Frederick 

[Nash00]

16 minutes ago, Goalie said:

I dunno about Adams struggling exactly. I think he has been ok. I just think Frederick has been better. Sometimes you can have a good player like Adams being replaced by a better player in Frederick 

Fair point. I guess I would classify Adams struggles in a sense that he hasn't played up to the level he was playing at last year. Holley game him fits on Labour Day, that shouldn't happen especially when he's capable of shutting down Duron Carter.

Frederick has been excellent though and MOS seems to be fielding the roster with the best 46 available and not giving vets and grace, which I think is something we all would hope he would do.

[Atomic]

29 minutes ago, Nash00 said:

MOS seems to be fielding the roster with the best 46 available and not giving vets and grace, which I think is something we all would hope he would do.

I think MOS takes a lot of unnecessary criticism for this.... yes, we were subjected to too much Romby Bryant, Ejiro Kuale, Greg Peach.... but the difference between now and then is that we actually have good players on the bench waiting to play, whereas that may not have been the case before.  It may not be O'Shea who has changed as much as the players available to him have changed.

[Stickem]

You always strive for better...if there's better on your roster you play them...That's how championship teams are built...Reverting to the lowest common denominator is a way to remain a loser...Doug Brown said it best....If you aren't changing...you're not improving...something to that effect..Anyway, Frederick has earned a spot with his stellar play...I don't know how you sit him...You play your best....As for Adams, he may still be feeling the effects of that bad injury...If and when he has totally recovered he'll be given a chance to regain his position.

[Blueandgold]

18 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I think MOS takes a lot of unnecessary criticism for this.... yes, we were subjected to too much Romby Bryant, Ejiro Kuale, Greg Peach.... but the difference between now and then is that we actually have good players on the bench waiting to play, whereas that may not have been the case before.  It may not be O'Shea who has changed as much as the players available to him have changed.

Those were still awful choices. The difference is, O'Shea has grown as a coach and is no longer loyal to a fault. He's actually willing to make the decision to put sub par players on the bench.

[Atomic]

11 minutes ago, Blueandgold said:

Those were still awful choices. The difference is, O'Shea has grown as a coach and is no longer loyal to a fault. He's actually willing to make the decision to put sub par players on the bench.

Speculation really.  We don't know if there were better players on the bench.  No point taking out Kuale for a rookie that sucks, for example.

[Nash00]

29 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I think MOS takes a lot of unnecessary criticism for this.... yes, we were subjected to too much Romby Bryant, Ejiro Kuale, Greg Peach.... but the difference between now and then is that we actually have good players on the bench waiting to play, whereas that may not have been the case before.  It may not be O'Shea who has changed as much as the players available to him have changed.

 

10 minutes ago, Blueandgold said:

Those were still awful choices. The difference is, O'Shea has grown as a coach and is no longer loyal to a fault. He's actually willing to make the decision to put sub par players on the bench.

It probably a little from column A and B. Kuale especially kept taking stupid penalties and harming the team in a very obvious way but still got to see the field. Peach was replacement level but played and Bryant was a flyer as our WR depth was a dumpster fire. No doubt his talent to make his lineup from is infinitely better than 2 years ago, there were still instances that he seemed to favor the vet over an unproven.

Fast forward to now and he is making guys earn back their spots and rightfully so. Part of that is him growing as a coach and the other part is just his overall faith in the depth on the roster that he can stick his neck out and bench a player. And we're talking about a guy who's a year removed from being a West all-star and not an also ran like Kuale.

[wbbfan]

3 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Would that make it Randle, Fogg, Heath (in for Johnson), Frederick and Loffler? I'd endorse that secondary.

no but that would be a great group. 

[Atomic]

4 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

no but that would be a great group. 

Wouldn't be surprised if we see that group very soon

[Pete Catan's Ghost]

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

no but that would be a great group. 

Professor Heath is too busy in the classroom educating the D on tendencies of the T.O. offense.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Pete Catan's Ghost

[17to85]

4 hours ago, Mike said:

Interesting that Frederick has beat out Adams ... I kinda like it.

Certainly makes it appear to be a meritocracy. Adams wasn't great against the Riders, probably to be expected with as long a layoff as he's had and I've really liked Fredericks game so happy that he still gets to play. I anticipate it'll be a good battle for spots the rest of the year and hopefully it pushes everyone to be better. 

[Atomic]

Now Ed Tait says Randle for Frederick:

Quote

One change to the defence is all but certain: veteran cornerback Chris Randle will return and will start over Terrence Frederick.

http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/09/15/48-hour-primer-wpg-vs-tor/http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/09/15/48-hour-primer-wpg-vs-tor/