The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have nowhere to go but up but I don’t expect them to achieve much more than last season’s 4-14 record. No one will question Buck Pierces toughness but with injury after injury plaguing his career it may be time for Winnipeg to go looking for a dependable starting QB.

Prediction

Bombers go 4-14 and miss the playoffs.

Players to Watch

Offence

Terrance Edwards- this guy was second in the league in receiving in 2010 and as long as someone can get him the ball I expect good numbers from the Winnipeg receiver again in 2011.

Defence

Odell Willis had 11 sacks and a league high 4 forced fumbles in 2010 look for Willis to pester opposing QBs all season long.

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

JOVON JOHNSON is the busiest football player to wear a Winnipeg Blue Bombers jersey these days and he’d like even more work.”I never like to come off the field. In high school I played quarterback, returned kicks and played defence,” said Johnson, who is having a solid season at cornerback and has taken over most of the club’s kick and punt return duties. “I kid coach Kelly all the time about getting me some work on the offence. I think I could play in the slot and make some plays for this team.”

Johnson has picked off four passes at corner for the Bombers and has 483 yards on 20 kickoff returns and 264 yards on 30 punt returns.

“He’s fearless. Absolutely fearless. He’s a football player and he loves being out there on the field,” said Bombers coach Mike Kelly, when asked about Johnson’s best attribute as a kick returner. “He’s got good instincts and he’s patient enough to let the blocking develop in front of him. He’s got one of the best breaks on the ball of any corner in this league. Usually that explosiveness is the tool you try to lean on returning kicks, but Jovon has learned to wait for the blocking and then to explode.”

Johnson says the more work the better.

“I never get tired. I’m a warrior when it comes to that,” said the 5-8, 191-pound former Pittsburgh Steeler. “I’ve always been in good shape and I could play every play as long as I’ve got 11 other players out there helping me out.”

Kelly says Johnson’s work on defence shouldn’t be overlooked due to his electric special teams work.

“He’s one of the best corners in the league and I’m glad he’s playing for us instead of against us,” said Kelly. “He’s still got some things to learn, but he comes back to ball off his backpedal as well as anyone else. Our whole group of DBs right now are just having fun playing football.”

Standing under a punt and waiting for the ball while 12 defenders close in on you — all with malicious intent — could rattle the best of men. Not Johnson.

“Every time I go back there I think that I can make something happen,” said Johnson. “Like I said, I’m a warrior and when you take that attitude and that passion into the game, nothing can scare you. I’ve taken big hits and I’ve given big hits. It’s just something that goes with the violence of playing football.”

With so many skills, Johnson still has one favourite aspect of the game.

“Returning interceptions for touchdowns,” laughed Johnson. “I don’t get too many chances for that but when I do, I love it.”

There is one part of football Johnson can do without.

“I don’t like to block. I used to block when I was a quarterback and we would run a sweep, I’d be the first out there trying to get a block,” said Johnson. “But those days are gone.”

Kelly was asked if the Bombers might try to work in Otis Amey or Titus Ryan returning kicks.

“Jovon Johnson would be very upset if we tried to mess with what he’s doing right now and I can’t see any reason to do that,” replied the coach.

Read more…

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

GOOD on ya, Michael Bishop.

Because if anybody deserved a night in the limelight, it was the embattled Bombers quarterback, who’s been paid regu­lar visits from the Unwelcome Wagon since the emergency call went out to his Texas home a couple months ago.

Yeah, it was a heart-stopper, with the Bombers almost blowing a 20-point lead, which would have been a choke of epic pro­portions.

But they survived, if barely, and Bishop, for once, was the difference.

After all, Bishop was handed an unforgiving task — to try to give a pulse to a dead-on-ar­rival offence this season that has more often than not looked like Nick Nolte’s mug shot.

But in one of the more critical games in the franchise’s recent history, Bishop came through. Of course, the pivot had a little help, including a one-man show in newcomer Otis Amey, who made the most impressive over-the-shoulder reception in the Bombers’ season to date. As circus catches go, it was worthy of centre ring. (Isn’t it nice to use the word “circus” in Bomber­ville without it describing what happens off the field?) Sure, maybe it’s just delaying the inevitable for a team, now 4-8, that is clinging to razor­thin playoff hopes. The victory gives the Bombers a leg up on the brutal Argonauts and puts them within a victory of catching the B.C. Lions in the crossover race. Or maybe “race” is too strong a word.

Regardless, it was a win, and judging by the thousands of empty seats at Canad Inns Stadium, it couldn’t have come too soon.

Consider: So foul was the mood among the faithful that when the Bombers opened the scoring last night with a 56-yard punt single from Mike Renaud, it prompted a round of sarcastic cheers. And these were the people who showed up.

Yet that’s exactly the sour feeling that was percolating in Winnipeg prior to the open­ing kickoff. Because you don’t head out for a Bombers home game anymore wondering about such mundane questions as, “Can they win?” No, you go to a Bombers home game and wonder just how messy it could get.

That’s what it’s sunken to, and it’s getting very, very expensive.

Do the math: With an announced crowd of 22,446 Saturday night, that means there were more than 7,000 empty seats times $40 (ap­proximate average ticket price). By our count, that’s well over $250,000 in lost potential revenue. So another stinker from the home team last night would have been disastrous for reasons that go far beyond football, espe­cially with four more home dates remaining in the 2009 season.

This is ultimately a business, after all, and for all the sideshow shenanigans that have characterized the season, it’s the bottom line that is the Bombers’ lifeblood. It’s all fun and games until someone loses a season ticket, right?

Can one single victory over another equally challenged rival turn around the Bombers’ fortunes? Absolutely not. It’s going to take awhile.. That’s why Bishop and Co.’s per­formance was so crucial. The tsunami-like tide of bad public relations was threatening to swallow the club whole. The anti-Kelly forces were growing exponentially. A witness relocation program for the beleaguered head coach was in the offing.

And that’s the weird thing, frankly. Be­cause while Kelly arrived in Winnipeg with the reputation of an offensive guru, rooted in his tenure as Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator in the mid-1990s, it’s as though the less he meddles in the X’s and O’s, the more this year’s cast produces.

Bombers assistant Manny Matsakis is calling most of the shots now, and go figure — the offence puts 29 points on the board.

Where did that come from?

Mostly, it came from Bishop. Look, from the get-go, Bishop, now 3-5 as a Bomber, has been referred to in this space as a Band-Aid.

That still stands.

But let the record show that when the Bombers, losing blood profusely, needed a Band-Aid most, Michael Bishop delivered.

Read more…

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

It was a photograph, a moment in time, that stuck out.Three young quarterbacks standing shoulder-to-shoulder, clad in yellow practice jerseys glowing in the fall sun. Newbies, all.

Casey Bramlet, 13. Adam DiMichele, 4. Ricky Santos, 7. The caption could have been titled: The Future?

Yes, a question mark. We barely know these guys. And the only thing they know about Winnipeg is the route from the stadium to their beds. After all, Bramlet, the veteran of the trio, has been in town all of two weeks. Santos touched down on Tuesday. DiMichele showed up Thursday.

Regardless, there’s every chance that the fate of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a team the three quarterbacks probably never even gave a lick about their entire lives, is in their collective arms.

You see, there’s a lot of speculation about the fallout that might tumble from tonight’s critical joust with the incoming Toronto Argonauts, who have their own issues. Will a loss seal the fate of head coach Mike Kelly and his team’s meek playoff aspirations? Might a victory turn a tumultuous season around for a 3-8 football team?

But maybe those short-term ramifications don’t matter so much anymore. There are more empty seats with every passing game — talk about a misnomer — at Canad Inns Stadium. The angry mobs have cleaned the local hardware stores out of pitchforks. The cries for Kelly’s chromed pate have become a high-pitched choir.

What’s all the fuss about, dad?

Why, son, it’s about a quarterback.

It’s been about a quarterback since forever. Yet here are the Bombers, an ugly season hanging in the balance, with their immediate hopes resting in the form of veteran Michael Bishop, who is 2-5 since being thrust into the offensive dysfunction back in early August.

Our apologies to Mr. Bishop, who is undoubtedly doing his level best in a bad situation, but he is not the future. He is the now. And whether the Bombers succeed tonight will probably depend on what Bishop can muster from a troop of receivers with name tags on their helmets. In that regard, we sincerely wish him all the best.

But “The Answer” is still out there. Because let’s give the embattled Kelly some credit. For all the bone-headed, half-baked thoughts that have escaped his lips unfettered, for all the front office blunders and sideshows that have hijacked any semblance of pure football, there has been some progress.

The Bombers kicking game hasn’t been this sound since Cameron and Kennerd, at least in terms of pure numbers, not longevity. The defensive secondary, with finds like Jonathan Hefney and Jovon Johnson, finally has become an asset after years of roaming the wilderness. The offensive line is younger and deeper. Special teams, if not dynamic, have been a model of consistency.

But, unfortunately, since this is professional football, that’s akin to saying the Bombers have all the ingredients for a banana split except the ice cream.

Which brings us back to Bramlet, Santos and DiMichele, three strangers who probably don’t have a clue what they’ve gotten themselves into (See: LeFors, Stefan). Kelly probably hasn’t told them this yet — you know, with having to digest an entire playbook and all — but it’s a good bet his employment might be tied directly to one or all of their future endeavours.

Maybe it’s asking too much. Is it really possible for one of Bramlet, Santos or DiMichele to actually win a starting job, and succeed, over the course of the Bombers’ last seven (or more accurately, six) games of the 2009 season? Or are they just passing through, as the likes of Bryan Randall, Ryan Dinwiddie or Darrell Hackney — to name an unfortunate few. But ask yourself: What if one of them isn’t the answer? What if the Bombers can’t give their fans some promise, if not victories or a playoff appearance, between now and November? What then?

There is always the small picture; the outcome of the next game, the search for a game-breaking receiver, the need to take baby steps for improvement.

But this season was all about hope, and it hasn’t produced a drop of the stuff. And now time, faith and opportunity are fast running out.

The big picture? It could well be found in a snapshot of three quarterbacks in yellow practice jerseys on a sunny day in late September.

Sure, we’ve seen that photo before, with other young men who have come and gone. We hardly knew them, too.

Bramlet, DiMichele, Santos. Sounds like they could be the Three Musketeers, doesn’t it?

If only they knew how their lives might change if one of them is The Answer. If only they knew how desperately this team, this franchise, needs one of them to succeed.

It’s fuzzy now, unfocused. But if properly developed, what a pretty picture it could be.

read more….

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Michael Bishop in screaming match with Coach Kelly! Threatens to quit Bombers! Extra! Extra!

But is it true?

“Did what? I haven’t heard about that,” Bishop responded, when asked about a TSN report Tuesday night that quoted “sources” saying Bishop was contemplating leaving the Bombers after a set-to with head coach Mike Kelly. “I think it’s funny. I don’t know where it came from, but I guess that’s the latest news around here.”

But is it true, coach Kelly?

“That’s absolutely beautiful, because the only time (Bishop) and I have ever kind of raised the volume is when we’re laughing,” Kelly insisted during his Wednesday media scrum.

“We have never, ever had an argument. I don’t know where that stuff comes from. But at this point, there’s a lot of amoebas growing into one-eyed monsters.”

Me: “Mike, the way things are going, could it be reported that aliens abducted Bishop, probed him, and returned him to the Bomber locker-room and that would (be believed)?”

Kelly: “Don’t used the word ‘probed’. Try something else. How about interrogated? I don’t know how to answer that.”

(awkward silence).

Kelly: “Do you have a happy ending to that story?”

Me: “My point is that anything that comes out of the locker-room at this date, after all that’s happened (could be believed). Because this happened (Derick Armstrong), and that happened (Spygate), and this happened (Barrin Simpson), and that happened (players traded en masse), and…”

Kelly: “I’m not going to get up on a soap box banging a drum saying this isn’t happening or that isn’t happening, because, to be honest, it just looks like I’m trying to defend everything that’s going on. Some of these reports, I don’t know where they originate, I don’t know where they start. But in any case, when you’re struggling, whether it’s in your personal life or something like this, some things take on a life of their own.

“I’m not going to get all crazy about that (report of feud with Bishop), because I know what’s going on back there (in the room) and that’s the biggest part of my job right now — to manage our collective emotions the best I can, to keep our focus on the task at hand, which is bringing a product on our field that makes our fan base happy. And we also understand the only cure for all of this is to win. And if we win, then everything will settle down.”

You know, of all the he-said, she-said nonsense swirling around Bomberville these wacky days, those last two sentences are perhaps the only real, relevant truth.

The Simpson Saga? The veteran linebacker wanted to be traded. Don’t care what he said or didn’t say on the way out the door. Have a nice life, Barrin. Say hello to Derick Armstrong for us.

The Bishop-Kelly feud rumour? Well, it was thrown out on national television, not yet verified. Hey, it’s not like a coach and quarterback have never exchanged heated words behind closed doors before.

Denial mode

But Bishop was sitting right there in his stall, in full denial mode, not packing his bags for Texas. So maybe your eyes are a better indicator of the truth than your ears.

Regardless, the turbulent environment orbiting the Bombers — who are now undergoing a significant offensive overhaul in mid-stream — is such that, understandably, any rumours, baseless or not, cannot be flatly ignored.

After all, if anyone wants to step up and claim they foresaw the endless string of seemingly unprecedented crises-of-the-week — from a top receiver, dressed, refusing to play in a game, to starting-quarterback issues, to accusations of spying on other teams, to a star player at war with the team but still allowed in the locker-room, etc., etc. — then just let us know, Nostradamus.

So a rumour about Bishop upset and wanting out? Why not? He’d only be the third defector this year.

Look, I’m not going to be hypocritical and say it’s beneath us to ask about such tongue-waggers based on “sources” and “rumours”. True or false, it was on national TV. The questions had to be asked, no apologies.

Hell, for all I know, the “source” was Simpson himself. Wouldn’t that be something, eh?

Like they say, the truth is out there. Fitting, because this Bombers season long ago became an episode of the X-Files, interspersed with the odd football game.

Come to think of it, Scully might not believe Bishop was abducted by aliens. But Mulder might.

Read more….

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

Barrin Simpson is now persona non grata in the Winnipeg Blue Bomber clubhouse and his days with the team are all but officially over.

The Bombers have asked the veteran linebacker — who requested a trade a couple of weeks ago when told his playing time would be reduced — to steer clear of the locker-room, the team’s meetings and practices after an incident that allegedly occurred on Monday. They’ve also cleaned out his locker.

In a paperwork move, the organization has asked him to sign a ‘do not report’ form that means he is only to appear at the team’s offices for treatment on his turf-toe injury.

According to two sources within the organization, the last straw came when Simpson was overheard making a sarcastic/derogatory comment about the organization to new players Odell Willis and Titus Ryan when they arrived after being acquired in Sunday’s trade with Calgary. Simpson’s remark so enraged one veteran player, he later met with head coach Mike Kelly and asked that he do something with Simpson ‘before I punch him out.’

Bombers veteran Doug Brown said it was time to make a move.

“It was unusual and you might say an uncomfortable situation. You have a player in limbo who has asked to not be a part of this organization any more. Yet, there’s a scenario where he’s coming to our meetings and he’s in the facility and hanging around the guys. It was a unique deal so I’m not surprised it’s come to this,” said Brown.

“That’s the thing, when you’re looking for the door on your way out, you’ve kind of already separated yourself and left the team. I’m not sure the team’s best interest remain your priority. Us losing, and having asked to be moved, you don’t know if there’s any satisfaction in that. From a locker-room perspective, when times are tough like this, you need to know guys have each other’s back. Especially in our inner sanctum.”

Simpson, through his agent Mark Maren, is vehemently denying that accusation and story. The Simpson camp said the linebacker was contacted by Kelly Monday night and told he was not to report as to avoid further distractions with the team and the media, a decision with which they agreed. But Simpson insists he has never even met Willis or Ryan, let alone made any negative comments about the team to them.

“This is the first time the club has asked Barrin to stay away,” said Maren Tuesday. “If this was a major concern, then why wasn’t this brought up before? We totally agreed with (the decision), understand that and respect that. The last thing Barrin wants to do is be a distraction for his team or his teammates.

“But the fact that this story is now being elaborated on, that a veteran player approached (Kelly) to say that Barrin is saying this and this and this about the club and meeting the new guys… that’s where we draw the line. Then it becomes an attack on my player and his character and that’s what we’re responding to.

“Now it’s ‘who do you believe?’ If they had just let this alone and told us they didn’t want him to be a distraction, we would have ridden off into the sunset. But this other part has ticked off Barrin and it has ticked me off. Barrin has told me he has never met these two new players, he’s never had a conversation with these players. He’s always been a teammate, always put the team first.”

Bombers coach Mike Kelly said a number of players approached him in recent days to say it was time to say goodbye to Simpson.

“This was relayed to me. I think we were very fair with Barrin, there comes a point where we have to stick to the task at hand and we’ll let that situation rest with others,” said Kelly. “I called Barrin (Monday) night. We’ve tried to accommodate his needs. I did have players comment to me that is was best that he not be around.”

Even before this latest incident, the situation with Simpson and the Bombers was bizarre to say the least. His request to be traded and the team’s decision to keep him around while the rest of the players prepared for the last two games created an odd working environment which one player, speaking in anonymity to The Free Press, referred to as ‘toxic.’

Meanwhile, the CFL’s board of governors ruled today in favour of Simpson’s grievance that he was placed on the nine-game injured list by the Bombers without his consent. The Bombers argued they have followed the bylaw in the collective-bargaining agreement, stating that as long as the player is made aware he is being placed on the nine-game list — which means his salary does not count against the cap — he does not have to sign the form.

In a statement, the league said: “After a review of all of the issues and a careful consideration of the situation, the Commissioner, in consultation with the Board and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, has determined the player in question will be placed on the one-game injured list. The Blue Bombers have raised some important issues, and the interpretation of our by-laws will continue to be considered after the season.”

Bombers CEO Lyle Bauer was in Toronto for league meetings.

“The commissioner, after discussions with the board of governors and us, has ruled that Barrin is on the one-game injured list,” said Bauer. “However, they recognize there are unique issues to this circumstance and this will be reviewed in the off-season.”

Bauer said Simpson’s salary will not be an issue for the Bombers.

“Let’s just say any Salary Management System issues related to this will be worked out between the club and league office in the off-season,” said Bauer.

Read more….

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

Bust out those Winnipeg Blue Bomber depth charts again, football fans, and have a pencil and eraser handy because an outfit which has already experienced an extreme makeover is getting another facelift.

And this isn’t another little nip here and tuck there.

Fresh from their blockbuster deal with the Calgary Stampeders Sunday afternoon, the Bombers made another trade less than 24 hours later by acquiring quarterback Ricky Santos from the Montreal Alouettes for two Canadian defensive linemen, Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne. Part of the fallout of that transaction was the release Monday night of QB Bryan Randall, the former Virginia Tech star who has spent the last year-and-a-half apprenticing with the Bombers.

The flurry of activity means the struggling Bombers, now 3-8, have landed four new bodies and shipped out five — including receivers Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin, who were sent to the Stamps — since Sunday’s 33-14 smackdown by the Als.

The addition of Santos on Monday and the deletion of Randall means the Bombers will go to war against the Toronto Argonauts this Saturday with veteran Michael Bishop backed up by Casey Bramlet, who has been here for less than two weeks, and Santos.

“There’s a lot of people that believe that the two young quarterbacks in this league right now that can develop into a player are (Travis) Lulay out in B.C. and Ricky Santos, who Montreal has been grooming along for the last couple of years,” Bomber head coach Mike Kelly told CJOB. “Ricky had astronomical numbers coming out of the University of New Hampshire and led a program into the NCAA playoffs that hadn’t seen that level of success for a long time. He’s a mature kid that’s got some skill sets.”

The deal did raise eyebrows in CFL circles, however, as the Bombers shipped two Canadians for a player who was languishing in Montreal and buried behind Anthony Calvillo, Adrian McPherson and Chris Leak. As well, Winnipeg’s Canadian depth is already thin with Brady Browne and Steven Holness on the injured list. Also available are receiver Michael Hyman, O-lineman Lorne Plante and former University of Manitoba Bison D-lineman Justin Shaw, expected to join the team today.

That said, the Bombers desperately need to find an answer at the quarterback position with Bishop — four touchdowns and 11 interceptions this season — struggling. And for both Bramlet and Santos the chance to stake a claim to a starting gig here is critical. Santos, in particular, is desperate to get on the field after starring at the University of New Hampshire and trying out with the Kansas City Chiefs before heading north.

“It’s a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Santos told The Montreal Gazette. “An athlete’s a confident guy. But you can’t go wrong playing any of those guys (ahead of him on the Alouette roster). I was the odd man out… Still, it was extremely frustrating, not playing or dressing.”

Sunday’s deal has landed the Bombers three players — all of whom could be in the lineup against the Argos this weekend — while helping boost the Stamps’ depleted receiving corps in their run for a Grey Cup repeat.

Ryan (6-0, 190, Concordia College-Selma) has seven receptions for 111 yards and a TD this year and leads the CFL in kick-return yards with 984 yards, including a 104-yard score. Willis (6-2, 265, West Georgia) has six sacks this year as a rookie and fills the gap left by the injury to Fred Perry.

Arthur (6-4, 225, Akron) is clearly the key to the deal for the Bombers. A former first-round draft pick, he is still considered a blue-chip prospect despite a rash of injuries, including a broken foot that has kept him on the sidelines this season after a solid training camp. He is eligible to come off the nine-game injured list in time for this weekend’s game.

The Bombers moved Bryant after his struggles this year had limited his production severely (20 catches for 232 yards and zero TDs) while Franklin is in his option year and had balked at re-signing a new deal. Speculation is he would like to return to southern Ontario if he should hit free agency.

“It provides us with three guys who are young and under contract for an extended time,” said Kelly.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

TODAY’S BOMBER REPORT C3

Coming and going

NEW GUYS

WR Titus Ryan

The buzz: Big-time speed; return specialist. Raw but talented.

SB Jabari Arthur

The buzz: Huge Canadian target the Bombers hope and pray could evolve into a Gerald Wilcox type.

DE Odell Willis

The buzz: Bounced around the Arena League before heading north. Has six sacks this season.

QB Ricky Santos

The buzz: A star at the University of New Hampshire, starting for the Wildcats for four years and going 37-14. A three-time Division 1-AA All-American, Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006 as the top offensive player in I-AA.

To Calgary

“ö WR Romby Bryant: Last year’s leading receiver for the Bombers; struggled this season.

“ö WR Arjei Franklin: Likable Canadian suffered a high-ankle sprain earlier this year; scheduled to return this weekend.

To Montreal

“ö DE Shawn Mayne: Reserve Canadian and a Montreal product now heading home.

“ö DE Riall Johnson: Veteran end who has seen spot starting duty here and in Toronto.

Read more….

Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

Ricky Santos was superb in college, but his professional career had reached a dead end with the Alouettes; a fourth-string quarterback not about to play behind Anthony Calvillo, Adrian McPherson and Chris Leak.

But now, following his trade to Winnipeg, Santos gets a new lease on life. In exchange for Santos, as first reported in The Gazette, the Als receive a pair of Canadian defensive ends – Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne; the latter, a Montreal native.

On the surface, it appears the Bombers were fleeced by Als management. “From our standpoint, we felt a need this was something we had to do,” assistant general manager Marcel Desjardins said.

“I can’t speculate on the Bombers, except that they must need a quarterback,” he added. “We’ve added two Canadians, which obviously was an area of concern. This gives us a lot more flexibility to do things.”

The Als have been devastated by injuries to their non-imports, especially those who play on special teams, although they appear set on the defensive line, which is manned by rush-ends Anwar Stewart, John Bowman and Jermaine McElveen, all Americans. Both Johnson and Mayne have played on special teams.

Johnson, 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, was acquired by Winnipeg in a trade from Toronto last February. The five-year Canadian Football League veteran enjoyed his best season in 2007, with 10 quarterback sacks for the Argonauts. Johnson was a sixth-round draft choice by Cincinnati in 2001 and spent three seasons with the Bengals.

He’s eligible for free agency this February and was unlikely to re-sign with the Bombers. Coincidentally, he told several Montreal players before Sunday’s game – a 33-14 Winnipeg defeat at Molson Stadium – he was anticipating a trade. Johnson had two tackles in the game.

Mayne, 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds, has been predominantly a backup with the Bombers in four seasons although he dressed on Sunday and contributed three tackles.

Both players became available after Winnipeg acquired defensive-lineman Odell Willis from Calgary in a multi-player deal following Sunday’s defeat.

Although the Als now take on two contracts, Desjardins denied they’ll have issues with the $4.2-million salary cap. Santos has spent the season on the nine-game injured list, although he’s eligible to come off this week. His salary hasn’t counted against the cap.

“We invested a lot of time and money developing a quarterback,” Desjardins explained. “We weren’t looking to get rid of an asset. We have nearly a half-season to adjust and we’ll be fine, cap-wise.”

Santos set school records at New Hampshire for passing yards and touchdowns, with 13,212 and 123, respectively. But he never played a regular-season down for Montreal in two seasons and undoubtedly was growing frustrated.

“Every athlete’s a confident guy, but you can’t go wrong playing any of those other guys,” he said. “I was the odd man out, although they kept me around for a year and a half. But it was extremely frustrating not playing or dressing. I’m extremely happy to be getting this opportunity.”

Note – Bombers head coach Mike Kelly is considering sending a tape to the CFL of Shea Emry’s fourth-quarter hit on Terrence Edwards, which knocked the slotback out of the game. “He pretty much caught a right hook from Mike Tyson,” Kelly told the Winnipeg Free Press.

Read more….

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

It was a surreal scene, watching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — already in a daze following Sunday’s thrashing by the Montreal Alouettes — scrambling to find Romby Bryant and tell him he’d been traded to the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders.

The Stamps, desperate to replenish their receiving corps after losing Ryan Thelwell to an Achilles injury in Friday’s loss to Hamilton and already without Ken-Yon Rambo, have landed both Bryant and Arjei Franklin — scheduled to come off the nine-game injured list this week — from the Bombers in exchange for receivers Titus Ryan and Jabari Arthur and defensive end Odell Willis.

Calgary also gets a third-round pick in next year’s Canadian Draft and the rights to a negotiation-list player while the Bombers landed two draft picks in 2010, a fourth- and sixth-rounder.

“Nothing we are doing is acting out of haste or a knee-jerk reaction to these things,” said Bombers director of player personnel John Murphy. “We have Toronto at home next week and B.C. coming to us. Like it or not, in this season and how everybody has played except Montreal, it’s the first team to a two-game winning streak down the stretch that is going to pull out that last spot.

“Both of those guys played hard for us. On the other side, I like what we’re getting in return.”

Bryant has struggled all season, but was particularly bad Sunday with two catches for 18 yards while being out-fought for one pass — intercepted by the Als.

In Ryan (6-0, 190, Concordia College-Selma), the Bombers get a 25-year-old rookie who has seven catches for 111 yards and one TD in spot duty, but has also returned 37 kickoffs for 894 yards — including a 104-yard TD.

Arthur (6-4, 225, Akron), 27, has spent all this year on the injured list, but is scheduled to return this week.

Willis (6-2, 265, West Georgia), 24, has 12 tackles and six sacks this year, his first in the CFL.

Read more….

Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

They are offensively challenged, horribly mistake-prone and excruciatingly painful to watch. And if it wasn’t official before, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season is precariously close to being flushed down the toilet.

Not surprisingly, as part of the byproduct of their eighth defeat in 11 games, the Bombers are reacting by making major changes.

Despite a valiant defensive effort and decent work by their special teams, the Bombers were manhandled by the Montreal Alouettes 33-14 Sunday afternoon in front of another Molson Stadium capacity crowd.

Afterward, the club announced they had traded receivers Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin to the Calgary Stampeders, along with a third-round pick in the 2010 Canadian Draft and the rights to a negotiation-list player for receivers Titus Ryan and Jabari Arthur, a Canadian, defensive end Odell Willis and fourth- and sixth-round draft picks in 2010.

The Bombers fell to 3-8 with the loss to the powerhouse Als, now 9-2. They are four points out of a playoff spot and trail the B.C. Lions, 5-6, who would qualify as a crossover team if the season ended today.

“We’re getting to the point where when we play a top-tier team that you wonder if we’re even going to be competitive out there,” said a despondent Doug Brown in a morose Bomber locker-room. “There’s nothing worse in football than having that feeling of despair where you wonder, where you hope that you can be competitive.

“It’s hard right now. The worst part about it… the record is one thing, but when you (expletive deleted) fly home and get off the plane and walk through the airport. You just know what everyone is thinking. This organization is too proud to let this continue. It’s so disappointing.”

The Bombers actually opened the scoring on Sunday when Fred Reid smashed up the middle for a four-yard TD. But the offensive highlights were almost non-existent after that as the Als outscored the visitors 33-7 the rest of the way. Winnipeg managed just 162 yards offence and 11 first downs, while Michael Bishop and newcomer Casey Bramlet completed just 10-of-27 passes for 158 yards with three interceptions and one TD — a Bishop to Adarius Bowman connection that was good for a 55-yard major.

The Alouettes, meanwhile, rolled up 460 yards of offence as part of a dominant performance that — continuing an alarming trend for the Bombers — saw them on the field for 17 minutes and six seconds more than Winnipeg. Anthony Calvillo completed 28-of-40 passes for 338 yards and one TD — to Avon Cobourne — while Cobourne also scored once along the ground. Damon Duval rounded out the scoring by connecting on all five of his field-goal tries.

Bombers head coach Mike Kelly did conduct some post-game interviews but did not oblige the two Winnipeg newspaper reporters who were in the locker-room and requested to talk to him afterward. This after apparently being ordered to conduct those interviews by president and CEO Lyle Bauer. Here’s what Kelly did say to the media that weren’t in the locker-room, specifically about the quarterbacks:

“Our quarterbacks are Russell Stover chocolates right now. You never quite know what you’re going to get. Bishop did some things in the first quarter. He had some success and was battling. Then things got away from us. We’re just trying to go with someone who has a hot hand and can function. We’re struggling right now at the quarterback position. Being able to function is a challenge sometimes. You just go with your gut and see if you can get something going.”

The Bombers have been outscored 88-24 in their last two games and have committed 18 turnovers in their last three. Meanwhile, even the normally reliable Reid was bottled up by the Als and held to just 18 yards on 11 carries.

“It’s frustrating,” said Reid. “Nobody wants to lose. We’ve got to do something to turn this thing around. We need to come out to practice next week and work hard, work like we’ve never worked before. We’re not out of this thing. That’s what everybody needs to realize. We’ve got to keep fighting and plugging away. And, other than that, we’ve got to keep our head up.”

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