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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Tropical fish stolen from Beachburg, Ont. restaurant found and returned
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
U.S. FAA launches investigation into unauthorized personnel in cockpit of Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.