Jerreth Sterns glanced over at Nic Demski’s unmanned locker inside the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clubhouse and then paused for a moment to find the right words to explain the value of the veteran receiver.

“If Nic can’t go it’s going to be a big blow, not just for our receiver room, but for our whole team. He’s a leader,” said Sterns. “He brings a presence and an energy. It’s something everyone, including the fans, can see.

“From an offensive standpoint, he’s a high-knowledge guy who solves a lot of problems for us. The receiver room, if Nic can’t go, is going to have to step up and really make sure we’re on our Ps and Qs with the little details. We all need to get into our playbook just a little bit more so that Zach (Collaros) knows we all know what we need to do.

“Nic is a great guy. Everyone loves being around him. In the receiver room we all know he knows his s–t and then he goes out and makes plays.

“Why not follow a guy like that? He brings so much outside of the stats.”

Just for the record, a couple hours after our conversation with Sterns, Demski was officially ruled out by the club for Friday’s home date against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Wednesday’s practice was closed to the media, but Tuesday’s session featured Canadian Gavin Cobb getting a ton of work in Demski’s spot, with Keric Wheatfall also seemingly bumping Dillon Mitchell from the starting crew of receivers.

Whatever the receiver combination for Friday, taking a three-time 1,000-yard star out of that lineup — Demski again leads the club in catches (67), yards (1,001) and receiving touchdowns (seven) — is a big blow with the Blue Bombers still needing to lock up a playoff spot, let alone their seeding for the postseason.

“We still think we’re in a good spot,” said Sterns. “We still control our own destiny. Obviously, some games have gotten away from us but now we can’t worry about the past. It’s all about just tackling each day. If everyone has that mindset, we’ll be fine.”

That’s become a bit of a mantra this week after Saturday’s loss to Edmonton, following which veteran defensive back Deatrick Nichols said, ‘everything we want and need is still in front of us.’

“It’s like #1 said — Deatrick — we still have everything in front of us,” said linebacker Tony Jones. “Obviously, the game last week wasn’t in our favour. We felt like we didn’t play a completely sound football game — all three phases. At the end of the day, everyone in here knows what we can be when we play three-phase football — we can be an elite team. If we play our brand of football, we’re one of the top teams in the league. We have to go out there and prove it, be disciplined and execute the game plan.

“We know who we are as a team. We know who we can be. It’s just we have to go out play all three-phase football. We can’t take turns messing up. We can’t have this guy mess up this quarter, that guy mess up that quarter. Maybe we miss a protection call on punt or miss a block a kickoff… it’s a team sport and at the end of the day if one guy is either out of their gap or not disciplined in their assignment, it can be a huge gash in what we’re doing as a unit.”

A win by the Blue Bombers Friday followed by an Elks loss in Vancouver later that night would give Winnipeg its playoff spot. There are any number of scenarios still in play — including one where the Blue Bombers could still finish second and host the West Semi-final or another where they win on Friday and still miss the playoffs.

Asked about the various situations at play here, head coach Mike O’Shea offered this on Wednesday:

“It’s partly my job (to know about the scenarios) but most importantly we’ve got to play good football in order to win a game. All the other stuff when you’re constantly relying on other people to do your job for you, you’re going to be disappointed.

“There’s no point differential right now coming into play (as a tiebreaker) so winning is what’s relevant.”

OUCH REPORT: Important to keep an eye on both the Blue Bombers and Roughriders injury reports in advance of the depth charts being released on Thursday. Winnipeg’s indicates not only that Demski is out, but KR/DB Trey Vaval is listed as questionable.

Injury Report: October 15, 2025#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/O8p3N6aMCJ

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 15, 2025

Meanwhile, today’s injury report for the Roughriders — who have already locked up first place in the West — is quite revealing. While QB Trevor Harris is listed as ‘available’, veteran Jake Maier has been getting most of the work with the starters in Regina. As well, receivers KeeSean Johnson and Dohnte Meyers, RB AJ Ouellette, DBs Rolan Milligan, Marcus Sayles and Jaxon Ford and DT Micah Johnson, among others, are all listed as out for Friday.

Here is the Injury report and Game status for Week 20 presented by @worksafesask pic.twitter.com/pNwFb7BOzV

— y – Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) October 15, 2025

“Everybody’s different, but we all want to know who is going to be on the field because every quarterback has different tendencies, different timing and set-ups,” said defensive back Evan Holm. “If we hear somebody else is starting, then we can go back and look at their film, too. But every one of those guys is a professional.”

ICYMI: We had a great sit-down chat with rookie safety Cam Allen on this week’s edition of The Huddle. For those who may have missed it live — every Tuesday at 3 p.m. — this episode and others can be found on the Blue Bombers YouTube page. Here is our conversation with Cam: