Notes and quotes from Day 4 of Blue Bombers training camp…
Follow the blueprint: The way Peter Afful, Jr. figures it, his job during Blue Bombers training camp is rather straightforward: to mimic what Dalton Schoen did a couple years back in moving from the bottom of the depth chart to a starting spot and then Canadian Football League stardom.
“Coming into camp — I’ve never told anybody this — but I learned the name of every single receiver by name and school,” said Afful, Jr. in a chat with bluebombers.com following practice on Wednesday. “I knew what I was coming into and you never want to come into a battle blind. I had a plan. We were able to study the playbook pre-coming here. I was in that a lot. And I always thought, ‘there’s going to be a guy coming to camp that’s out-learning me, so I need to put in double-time on this playbook so I know it when I get here.’
“And the ‘Waggle’… funny thing about that, I watched the podcast you guys did with Dalton Schoen and he mentioned rooming with quarterbacks and all that stuff. I requested a quarterback to be my roommate for camp. I heard him say he knew the plays and so I knew I needed to know the plays, too. I heard how when he came in there were 25 receivers and we came in with 22. I thought, ‘OK, this sounds like a story that has already been written’ so I just needed to follow his blueprint.”
Peter Afful, Jr. at practice Wednesday
Just for the record, Afful, Jr. didn’t get his wish on being able to room with a quarterback during camp, but…
“I am rooming with a guy who went to Harvard (receiver Tyler Adams, who spent 2017-21 at Harvard before transferring to Butler) so he’s just as smart.”
Attention to detail and preparation have been big components to Afful Jr.’s game dating back to his days as a fullback in high school. Arriving at Washburn University in Topeka, KS, he converted to receiver with the Ichabods when he realized a 5-9, 174-pound fullback might face some challenges. Smart call, as morphed into a two-time conference all-star and flashed enough at his pro day to earn a rookie camp invitation from the Kansas City Chiefs last spring.
“I learned a lot there,” he said. “I learned how to take notes. I mean, it’s a championship team just like the Blue Bombers and so everything I learned in that camp I’m trying to apply here. It was just a rookie camp there, so sadly (Patrick) Mahomes wasn’t there. That’s what has made being here so cool — we get to work with Zach Collaros and Chris Streveler and get to have that interaction with them. And at Washburn we had a stacked receiver group and so you had to earn it every day, retain information and stay healthy and have that drive to win. Washburn also definitely prepped me for a program like Winnipeg.”
After his stint with the Chiefs, Afful, Jr. continued to train while taking a job at the Commerce Bank in Leawood, KS — “I’d never been a bank teller before, but I wanted to be the best at it and I was really good by the time I left” — before moving to Nashville to crank up his training. It’s around that time that he reconnected with the Blue Bombers, who had shown interest in him dating back to his days at Washburn.
“I was a bit stubborn because I wanted to shoot my shot with the NFL first,” Afful, Jr. said. “Then when that fell through I wanted to try and make my name here so I called Danny (McManus, Assistant GM/Director of U.S. Scouting) and e-mailed him to see if I could have an opportunity.
“I don’t want this chance go to waste. You want to try something and possibly not have it work than to not try it at all and think, ‘It could have worked.’ I didn’t want any ‘What ifs?’ I didn’t want any regrets. That’s why I made the call. And what better way than to try and prove yourself with a championship team.”
Afful, Jr. had tried to play the sponge at camp and soak up as much as possible. It’s an all-in endeavour, after all, and he doesn’t want to leave anything unexplored.
“It’s a lot about retention of the plays, asking the right questions, getting with Zach and Strev and the vets who have been here already,” he said. “Kenny (Lawler) has been a big help, especially with advice on how to run routes and read defences. Coach Bourgs (receivers coach Kevin Bourgoin) is a great teacher. So is Buck (Pierce, offensive coordinator). Everything is clear as day when they teach it.”
So far, so good as there was a stretch on Wednesday when Afful, Jr. was running with the starting unit. Also of note, he’s a kick returner, too, so that certainly could help his cause as the club looks to find a replacement for Janarion Grant.
“This team wants receivers, but they don’t need them,” said Afful, Jr. “They’re already strong at that position with Dalton Schoen, Nic Demski, Kenny Lawler, Drew Wolitarsky… those guys are amazing. They’ve been to the Grey Cup. They don’t need wide receivers, they want receivers and so when you get an opportunity like this you have to make the most of it and don’t get too high, don’t get too low and just stay right in the centre.”
Comings/goings: The Blue Bombers put LB Adam Bighill, CB Jamal Parker and DB Noah Hallett on the six-game injured list today. All three were on the field earlier in camp, but did not finish the practice Tuesday. Asked specifically about Bighill and Parker after practice, Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said, “we’re still gathering information.”
As well, the club released the following players to meet Tuesday night’s 75-player limit (not including non-counters like draft picks): Canadian LB Jared Beeksma, defensive backs Raleigh Texada and CJ Siegel, RB Ronnie Brown, receiver Ravi Alston and DL John Waggoner.
Keep pushing: It’s a subject Drew Wolitarsky brought forth on Day 1 of training camp — a notion that the Blue Bombers offence was going to push to be the ‘best to ever do it’ — and that topic was put to O’Shea on Wednesday. The offence was ranked first overall last year, but is pushing to be better and different this year.
Mike O’Shea
“Every year is different. We just have to remind ourselves of that and the fact it hasn’t been good enough at the end these last couple of years. These guys want to be the best they can possibly be and we have a group you can really push. You can keep giving them more and that’s one of the things Buck is so good at it — he’s creative and he keeps on giving them more and seeing where we end up. The players are the same way. They take a new concept or a new idea and they look at it and their minds go, ‘Whoa! We can do this and we can do that’ and they start adding stuff to it and talking about it and how good that can be.
“I don’t think we’d want to stay the same.”
FYI: The CFL announced Wednesday its new health and safety measures for 2024 and included among the initiatives was the freedom for players to know wear the Guardian Caps over their helmets in games if they wish. The CFL’s data says the introduction of the protective headgear last year led to a 42 percent decrease in training camp concussions.
In-game Guardian Caps highlight 2024 health & safety measures
Next: Thursday’s training camp session goes from 9 a.m.-12:25 p.m. at Princess Auto Stadium. All practices are open to the public.