Winnipeg Blue Bombers' head coach ready for start of season
Canadians learned the CFL will finally return on Aug. 5, which is the first action the league will have since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup in November 2019.
Now that there is a start date in sight, Bombers' head coach Mike O'Shea said he is ready to get the season underway.
"We're only a few weeks from getting together," O'Shea said on Friday.
O'Shea said he is extremely happy knowing that the start of the season is just around the corner and he added he is even happier for the fans, saying they have been waiting a long time for the league to return.
Even with the return of football just a few months away, O'Shea noted things will be different, such as more protocols at training camp and no exhibition games.
Despite the changes, he feels his team will be ready.
"Like most players understand, in a game situation when you're out on the field and the ball is about to get snapped, you probably don't hear the crowd and you don't hear them again until after the whistle blows," he said. "It's going to look different around practice, but play to play it will be relatively the same."
The coach said all the teams throughout the league will have to deal with the same situations when it comes to dealing with COVID protocols and it will be a learning process throughout the entire year.
"You have to be able to adapt very quickly. I fully expect our guys to be able to do that. We got a bunch of pros."
The CFL's season will be shortened for 2021 and will only feature 14 games.
The Bombers will have several players returning from the 2019 Grey Cup winning team and O'Shea thinks that will help the team get off to a good start.
"I do always value a veteran presence, and in this particular year it should prove its worth."
The Bombers' season will get underway on Aug. 5 as they welcome the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to Winnipeg.
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