There’s an old axiom in the sports media biz that some stories just write themselves.

Case in point, we give example 5,677,489 — or thereabouts — which was tastily served up after watching the first day of Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice on Tuesday: Dru Brown was taking the first reps for the club, with Zach Collaros dressed but limited, as the club prepares for Sunday’s trip to Ottawa to face the RedBlacks.

And for those of you just joining us, those are the same RedBlacks who traded Brown — the starter in Ottawa for two seasons — to Winnipeg on June 23rd for draft picks and are still chasing their first win of 2026.

Just to fuel this one further, Brown not only led the Blue Bombers to a 30-21 win over the Toronto Argonauts last Friday while throwing for 339 yards and a TD, but he was also saluted as one of the Canadian Football League’s Players of the Week.

Rankin, Philpot, Brown named Week 6 Players of the Week

So, again, there you go about some stories writing themselves: that’s 150+ words here to start without yours truly even really drawing a breath.

Still, here’s where the storyline potentially loses some momentum because, naturally, the Blue Bombers won’t yet confirm who will take the first snap on Sunday and Brown, for what it’s worth, won’t lean in and embrace any of this narrative.

Question: we know you’re even keeled and you don’t get too high or too low, but have you allowed yourself to anticipate what it would be like to play Ottawa this week?

“Not really. I know it sounds like I’m lying but I really do live that way — you can ask my wife,” said Brown with a grin after practice. “I don’t necessarily think about any of the emotions that go into it. I just focus on what I need to do to help us — if that were to happen.”

If that were to happen…

That’s the critical part of Brown’s answer right now because as much as professional football is part of the entertainment industry, catering specifically to those storylines isn’t how this works.

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea offered this when asked about the status of Collaros: “He’s working. We’ll see. We’ve got time left” adding that any decision will be made based on several conversations with the quarterback and Al Couture, the team’s Director of Health and Performance and Head Athletic Therapist.

Asked if the juicy storyline — Brown returns to face his old team — might play into his mind, O’Shea didn’t offer any revelations but did offer a juicy answer of his own.

“It does not enter my mind,” he said with a grin. “I don’t know what you’re asking… we’re not changing anything we do. We’re not getting luchador masks (Mexican wrestling mask) and capes and running around saying, ‘This is like a match’. We’re not doing that.

“However we’ve handled our business for the last whatever number of years is how we’re going to handle our business. That’s obviously your jobs to create the narratives and the story and whatever. We’re just going to handle our business the way we’ve always done it.”

And that’s cool with Brown, who is as calm as they come at his position. So, despite the potential distractions and the extra attention his return might garner IF he starts on Sunday, he’ll put his head down and just do his thing.

The revenge and retribution angle? He just won’t go there or even attempt to use it as fuel.

“Not that that’s wrong,” said Brown. “I think my mind is maybe just a bit more practical. As I’ve been an adult, I’ve never really needed to be motivated to do my job. I’m more motivated by my habits that I do daily and those don’t change. It doesn’t matter how I feel — those get done and then when you get on the field you have a process that you stick to that works pretty well and you do your best to stick to it and not waver one direction.”

“That’s a lot of who Dru is, but that also comes from being excellent in your preparation,” O’Shea added. “You can’t necessarily be that way if you haven’t prepared — you’d just be faking it if you looked all calm and hadn’t done any preparation, inside I imagine there would be inner turmoil.

“he’s always going to be extremely prepared and so I think that allows you to be calm in a lot of situations.”

CHECK IT OUT: Trey Vaval met with us after practice on Tuesday to relive some of his magical 129-yard missed field goal that was a massive moment in Friday’s win over Toronto.

As always, the gifted returner offered some insight on the big return, his emotions, and how he blanks out everything while taking one back.

That interview is here:

ICYMI: We had a spectacular chat with cornerback Major Williams on our live show, The Huddle, today. Check it out here and other goodies on the Blue Bombers YouTube page: