Bombers’ QB hopeful Wilson leading third-stringer charge

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Saturday was a bittersweet one for Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback hopeful Terry Wilson.

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On the one hand, he woke up to the news that fellow pivot Eric Barriere had been cut from the training camp roster.

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On the other, he knew he had cleared a hurdle in his fight for Winnipeg’s third-string job.

“It’s tough, to be honest,” Wilson said Sunday as the Bombers logged another three-hour session at Princess Auto Stadium. “Especially, being a quarterback, you spend a lot of time together, you study together. So, that was tough for me personally. You hate to see that happen.

“But it comes along with the game. We all know we have a job to do each day, and we try to do it to the best of our ability. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Just gotta keep moving forward.”

With 90-odd guys in camp, the business side of the game will come knocking often over the coming week.

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Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea and his staff will have many decisions to make, but he sees it more clearly.

“I see it like this: you’re running the 100-metre, there’s no reason to look to either side. There’s no point,” he said. “Keep your chin forward and run your race. See what happens at the end.

“You start looking, and you lose spots. The old adage a long time ago was just to count the roster. There’s no point. They have no clue what the big picture is. Stay focused on what you’re doing.”

Wilson’s done that, even as the Bombers replaced Barriere with Georgia State University product Darren Grainger, who led the Panthers to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl title last season.

The 23-year-old Grainger was named the game’s MVP after going 19-for-22 for 257 yards and three touchdowns in their win over Utah State.

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“You can’t get comfortable,” Wilson said. “There’s always going to be guys that want to take your spot.”

Wilson went 10-for-15 for 115 yards and a touchdown pass to rookie receiver Kevens Clercius in last Monday’s first pre-season game in Regina.

Barriere was well off that mark, just 3-for-7 passing with a measly 27 yards and a glaring pair of bad interceptions in the 25-12 loss.

“It reminds you that you can come into this league and do something, make some plays,” Wilson said. “That game did a lot for me, just getting that experience.”

Wilson has been here since rookie camp began three weeks ago, but he hasn’t been as sure-footed as he appears to be now.

As a collegiate player, the 26-year-old from Oklahoma City was well-travelled.

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His college career could be mistaken for a journeyman of the sport. The four-star recruit initially committed to Nebraska, but a change of mind led him to Oregon in 2016.

He soon transferred to Garden City Community College the following year. From there, he was at the University of Kentucky for the 2018 and 2019 years, with the latter cut short during his second game after tearing his patellar tendon.

Wilson transferred to New Mexico for his final year, winning the starting gig out of training camp only to suffer a season-ending elbow injury midway through.

Undrafted in 2022, he attended a rookie mini-camp with the Dallas Cowboys and then signed with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL (now UFL) before being released last fall.

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Now, he’s trying to pick up a new game and the hardest position in football to do so.

“There’s no comparison,” O’Shea said about the difficulty level for American pivots adjusting to the Canadian game.

“There’s a list of 100 things. The 12th guy, the 12th defender. That right there usually throws people for a big loop. The waggle. Timing. I’m not saying this is true for him, but you get quarterbacks these days who have never been in a huddle, haven’t called the plays. They look to the sideline, plays are called in and you don’t go into the huddle. Cadences are really different. The 12th player on offence. The motion.”

And regardless of whether Wilson is a third-stringer or the starter on any given week, O’Shea’s looking for a player who can come in and win a game.

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“They gotta be able to come into the huddle, they gotta be able to run the offence, have poise, not mind the pressure,” O’Shea said. “Over a short period of time, they have to get a certain command over the offence… and be able to go in and execute.”

News and notes

• Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo, placed on the suspended list earlier this week after taking a leave, was expected to be back in town on Sunday.

• Kenny Lawler made a sensational one-handed grab for a touchdown after jumping back to the outside and over his defender during a drill on Sunday. There were hoots and hollers all over the field after that one. The guy is extremely talented, so much so that O’Shea joked that it barely fazes him anymore.

• Winnipeg’s defensive line had its way with their offensive line counterparts during one-on-ones. Willie Jefferson certainly stood out, but it was guy after guy getting to stand-in quarterback Tui Eli. Eli is still sidelined with injury, Chris Kolankowski was off for a second straight day, and Stanley Bryant appeared to be given a vet day as well, so the o-line was missing a number of starters.

• Watch out for running back/returner Chris Smith. On Sunday, he took several of the team’s reps at running back behind Johnny Augustine, but he might be taking a lead in the returning game. Smith was named a first-team All-American in 2020 as a return specialist at Louisiana. His face lit up when he was asked what he liked about it, saying he would either take one to the house or get his face smashed in.

sbilleck@postmedia.com

X: @scottbilleck

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