It can be taken away in an instant — TyJuan Garbutt knows that full well. He’s lived it, after all, through the first third of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers season.
Considered one of the leading candidates to replace Jackson Jeffcoat at defensive end when training camp opened in May, Garbutt pulled up lame in the preseason with an ankle injury and is only now coming off the six-game injured list. He was getting some work with the defensive starters at practice on Tuesday and could very well see his first action of the season this Friday in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I just hope to show resilience,” said Garbutt after practice this week. “You never know how a game’s going to go. Some things happen that are out of your control and that’s why you work so hard, why you prepare – so you can be ready to anticipate what’s going to happen.
“The best thing I can do is just stay ready and just play hard and be somebody’s energy. We’re a third of the season done and a lot of the guys are nicked and bruised and unfortunately, but fortunately, I’ve had the chance to heal up and freshen up. I want to be the reason someone goes a little bit harder.”
TyJuan Garbutt
Garbutt was injured in the Blue Bombers first preseason game this year in Regina, rolling his ankle on a kickoff return while making a block. At first he thought nothing of it, but as his evening unfolded his worst fears became reality.
“I jogged back to the sidelines and thought, ‘I just rolled it,’” he said. “I’ve played through rolled ankles, I’ve played through ankle sprains – I know what that feels like. But then when the game ended and we were in the locker room and the adrenaline was going down and I had my stuff off and was walking to the bus… by the time I hit the plane my foot felt like a brick and that’s when I went, ‘Something’s a little bit up.’
“It felt like something wasn’t right.”
And — POOF! — just like that a chance to grab an opportunity and earn a starting gig was lost for the 25-year-old product of Fredericksburg, Va.
To Garbutt’s immense credit, he put his head down and kept grinding even helping the newcomers like Owen Hubert, Devin Adams and Lucky Ogbevoen learn the nuances of the three-down game.
“(Being sidelined) definitely changes everything,” he said. “All you want to do, especially as a competitor, is be out there and help your team as best you can help them. So, not being able to do that as a competitor, it hurt me. It hurt me from the last preseason game all the way through this last game against Calgary. It hurts.
“But I’m a very religious person and I knew it meant my purpose isn’t right now to be on the field and play, my purpose is to take guys like Owen Hubert, guys like Lucky who just got his chance, guys like Devin Adams…. Take those guys who play the same position as me and help them walk through it like guys like Jeffcoat did for me last year when I was in a practice squad situation, like Willie (Jefferson) does for me every other day. I just knew I had a purpose of being a leader whether I wanted to accept it or not. That was my calling at the time.”
The Blue Bombers D-line has been decimated by injuries this year, having already lost Cam Lawson, Celestin Haba and Miles Fox — each a projected starter — following a winter in which Jeffcoat retired and Ricky Walker moved on from the game.
“Strong. Eager — he’s been waiting for his opportunity,” said Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger of Garbutt. “He’s been patient, he’s done everything we asked him to do. He was in the running to be a starter before he got injured in the preseason. We’re excited to see him out there and get his chance to run around.
“He’s pretty versatile. He can beat you with power, he can beat you with speed, he can beat you with hands. He’s talented that way. He’s still young, still a rookie and he’s going to have his ups and downs and his learning moments but at the end of the day we believe he’s a talented football player.”
FYI: Some updates from practice on Tuesday — DB Jake Kelly was back practising, as were LT Stanley Bryant, RB Brady Oliveira, LB Brian Cole and SB Nic Demski.
Injury Report: July 16, 2024#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/tV1aF5zitJ
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 16, 2024
SALUTED: Receiver Ontaria ‘Pokey’ Wilson and the Blue Bombers offensive line were saluted for their work in the win over Calgary and are part of the Week 6 Honour Roll as selected by Pro Football Focus.
Wilson pulled in 13 passes for 201 yards in the win over Calgary and was named the offensive player of the week with a grade of 90.5, while the O-line had a unit grade of 67.2, led by Stanley Bryant (70.6), Tui Eli (65.7) and Liam Dobson (65.2).
Honour Roll, Week 6: McManis, Wilson, Bombers’ O-line top of class
FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS: The Blue Bombers were admittedly ‘squeezing the stick too tight’ to borrow a hockey term, especially during an 0-4 start that saw them drop the last three games by a combined total of nine points.
Here’s head coach Mike O’Shea when asked Tuesday how the back-to-back wins has potentially changed the vibe in Bomberland:
“You don’t want a zero to start, that’s for sure. Sometimes you just need one. I like the way our guys are moving. I like the way they work every single day. I like the way — whatever our record is now, whatever it was a few weeks ago, whatever it was four weeks ago — it doesn’t really affect them. They’ve been very good at just staying dialled in at the task at hand.
“You need more focus on the football field to get a win, that’s for sure, and they were able to do that. Squeezing… I don’t think they paid a lot of attention it, but it’s nice not to have a zero there.”