Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 19, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C3 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012 EXHIBITION: Hosts Hamilton, June 20, 7 p. m. TRAINING CAMP REPORT TODAY'S C 3 THE BOMBER REPORT winnipegfreepress. com N OW that the training camp axe has begun chopping away in earnest, you can be certain that a number of players have been evaluated incorrectly. Pre- season games are a frustrating concept for more than just the fans. For the players, in what is quite often the only opportunity they have to secure an income as a professional athlete, exhibition contests are marred by inaccurate and flawed evaluations, and it often starts and ends with the coaches. From the periphery, it may appear like all you have to do in the preseason to earn a spot on a squad is to put up some gaudy numbers and make yourself stand out from the pack, which is often the case. Yet in the 15 pre- seasons I went through, the results and statistics from these games are largely misinterpreted due to emphasis being put on the wrong measurables. Therefore pre- season games and even to an extent training camp, are often little help for determining the true value of your roster, unless, of course, the following variables are identified and emphasized. Who are you playing with? The only pains of sympathy I've ever felt for quarterbacks are the third- and fourth- stringers that enter a preseason game in the final stanza. They are often surrounded by such inferior talent that even Peyton Manning could not look competent playing with them. I'm talking about fringe offensive linemen who could not block a sports reporter wielding a notebook. How much time are you going to have in the pocket to go through your progressions and showcase your skills before you are forced to scramble for your life? And if you do have the time, you just might be unlucky enough to be paired with receivers that don't know their plays or audibles or how to adjust their routes to the coverage. How else do you explain the stories of guys like Kurt Warner and Trent Green, two prolific NFL QBs that spent almost as much time in their storied careers riding the pine and getting cut from the CFL ( Green) and stocking shelves at the local grocery ( Warner) as in the spotlight? There isn't much that Casey Printers said in his tenure that I agree with, but when he asked his coach on HBO's Hard Knocks with the Kansas City Chiefs , back in the day, how he was supposed to make chicken salad out of chicken- bleep, it was more than just an excuse for being cut. And it's not just depth chart misfortunes and interdependent positions that create false negatives. I've been in pre- season games where I've missed a call and the guy playing next to me wouldn't echo it because we were competing against each other. Subtle forms of sabotage and misinformation campaigns are rampant in pro football. In addition, I've seen players light it up in camp on Day 1, feign an injury on Day 2 and take the rest of camp off, and make the team based on the success of that single day. Who are you playing against? What used to surprise me, even more in my time down south, was how coaches were completely unaware of how your performance in the preseason, and in training camp, had as much to do with who you were playing against, than simply how good you were. In my first pre- season, as an undrafted, rookie defensive tackle, I had an interception and two- and- a- half sacks in limited time over four games, and I received a lot of press and commendations that resulted in an improbable practice roster berth. I was often playing against offensive linemen of similar status and calibre, but they weren't anything like what I would be facing once I made the active roster. I've seen coaches berate players to no end and get incredibly frustrated over their day- to- day inconsistencies as they swapped between facing starters and back- ups, be it in games or in practices. " Why can't you play like you did yesterday?" a coach would scream at a player who went from competing against number twos or threes, to sharing some reps against the starters. It was obvious to all of us why this player was bouncing on both sides of the ledger, but nobody ever had the nerve to explain that to the coaches and evaluators. When it comes to deciding who makes the team, you can only hope that just as much attention is paid to who the players are playing with and against, as to how they perform when the bright lights are shining. Doug Brown, once a hard- hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hardhitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press . Twitter: @ DougBrown97 DOUG BROWN Coaches often have tenuous grasp of obvious WINNIPEG Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice has declared his starting running back for his club's CFL regular- season debut, June 29 in Vancouver against the B. C. Lions. Now, LaPolice is normally painfully circumspect in answering even the most routine of questions. But he did not hesitate to provide a definitive answer when asked Monday afternoon following practice at Canad Inns Stadium if Chris Garrett - the starting tailback for the Bombers at the end of last season - would have the honours again when the 2012 regular season opens. " Yes," said LaPolice. " I told him he's doing a good job. Certainly he's got some competition in camp, which is always a good thing... " We're looking for big things." Garrett averaged 6.3 yards per carry and rushed for 576 yards and four TDs in just six games with the Bombers last year after he stepped in after season- ending injuries to Fred Reid and Carl Volny. Coming into training camp, the general consensus was Garrett had a good handle on the starting job again, but he has faced a stiff challenge from a long list of talented contenders. Management has been high on the speed and finesse NFLer Chad Simpson has shown and Bloi- Dei Dorzon and Anthony Woodson both impressed with big runs during a pre- season win in Montreal last Thursday. But while LaPolice was definitive about Garrett on Monday, he was hedging his bets on a couple of other issues. On injured slotback Cory Watson, LaPolice said the news on a lower leg injury was encouraging - Watson was doing pushups on the sideline Monday but did not practice. Still, LaPolice said Watson will likely be out at least one- to- two weeks depending on a diagnosis expected to come later today. LaPolice also said he still hasn't decided on his quarterback rotation for Wednesday night's game at Canad Inns Stadium. FIELD NOTES - LaPolice was asked his first impressions of newly signed import tackle Shannon Boatman. " A little out of shape. But he's athletic."... Glenn January and Andre Douglas, the Bombers projected - but injured - starting tackles, once again missed practice Monday. Also missing was linebacker Marcellus Bowman, who's been out with an unspecified leg injury... Backup QB Joey Elliott, who impressed with his performance against Montreal last week in his first game since tearing his ACL early last season, looked very tender on Monday and was clearly limping. Give Yourself a Hand While the Bombers never intended to play there again, they can take some consolation from the fact that the deafening din at the old Polo Park barn makes it a place visiting teams fear to tread. Exhibit 1: The Hamilton Tiger- Cats, who visit Canad Inns Stadium Wednesday evening, reportedly piped in crowd noise at their practice in Hamilton on Monday to prepare for the noisy conditions. For a pre- season game? Healthy Sick Bay While it seems like there's been a steady stream of injury reports coming out of training camp this month, Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice says this has actually been the healthiest camp in recent memory. " We didn't have a receiver miss a day of training camp ( until slotback Cory Watson got hurt Sunday) which is unheard of in my experience," said LaPolice. BLUE BOMBER Note Book H E has been the lone island of calm in what have otherwise been the raging waters of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive line this month. So what does veteran Bombers guard Steve Morley think about the idea that, at least for the moment, he is the lone starter on the offensive line from last year who is both currently on the roster and healthy enough to play? " Why is that surprising for you?" Morley laughed Monday when asked after practice about his status as the last hog standing. " We've had some guys go down - ( tackles) Glenn January and Andre Douglas. And they've missed a lot of two- a- day ( practices), so I don't feel too sorry for them. I've been out there grinding out those two- a- days in the hot sun, through the hollering and screaming and running around and hitting. " And I'm still standing. So I guess that's good." And also unique. With January and Douglas out for over a week now with injuries the club has described in only the most vague of terms, the first- team offensive line at practice on Monday remained what it's pretty much been for awhile now - Morley and the inexperienced Chris Greaves at guards, rookies Jordan Taormina and Paul Swiston at tackle and former B. C. Lion Justin Sorenson at centre ( being backed up by Chris Kowalczuk, who's in his third full CFL season but has yet to play a regularseason game). Put it together and the 79 CFL games Morley has played over the past six seasons is more - lots more - than all five of those other guys combined. The good news is January and Douglas are expected back sooner than later, although no one is saying if that will be in time for Wednesday's final pre- season game against Hamilton or, even, in time for the first regular- season game against B. C. on June 29. But even when they do inevitably come back, this is still going to be a very green offensive line in 2012 with Greaves taking the place of former allstar Brendon LaBatte ( Saskatchewan) and Sorenson or Kowalczuk replacing Obby Khan ( retired). That's going to be a challenge and everyone involved knows it. " We've got a lot of new guys out there," said Morley, " and there's a lot of learning to do. But we moved the ball pretty well against Montreal ( in a pre- season game last Thursday) and I think we can build on that. " But the O- line is always the last thing to come together in camp, just because of all the x's and o's." Offensive co- ordinator Gary Crowton, who surely couldn't have known how decimated his offensive line would be when he took the OC job last winter, said the good news is the new guys are quick learners. " I can't worry about filling holes for guys who are gone or who have injuries. These are the guys we've got and they need to perform. And I think they've been doing that. There's really been a progression there that has impressed me." They are, in other words, learning on the job. And the man who stands to potentially pay the biggest price for that - possibly as early as tomorrow night - is, of course, starting quarterback Buck Pierce. Pierce took too many hard hits as it was last season, playing behind a much more experienced line - although, by Pierce's own admission, he could have avoided some of the hardest hits if he'd just been a bit less stubborn. But even against that backdrop, the qualities Pierce says he likes most about his new line this year are the same ones fans seem to most like about him - big heart and hard work. " I'm comfortable with the guys. They're getting better every day. They're calm. And they're probably one of the hardest- working groups I've ever been around. They're learning... " They'll be fine." paul. wiecek@ freepress. mb. ca O- line hardly hog- tied Young, inexperienced but making impressive progress By Paul Wiecek ' These are the guys we've got and they need to perform. And I think they've been doing that. There's really been a progression there that has impressed me' - offensive co- ordinator Gary Crowton KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The last hog standing, Blue Bomber guard Steve Morley ( 62) gives a few pointers to tackle Andre Douglas at Monday's workout. Chris Garrett Cory Watson C_ 03_ Jun- 19- 12_ FP_ 01. indd C3 6/ 18/ 12 9: 22: 50 PM ;