The Blue Bombers are one more day closer to the regular season after cranking out another day of training camp. Here are today’s collection of notes, quotes and anecdotes in our latest edition of Tait’s Takes…

It’s impossible not to be impressed by the physical gifts of rookie Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma, given he is a towering 6-5 and a sturdy 240 pounds.

He can sling it and we’ve seen a ton of that through training camp.

Yet, what’s equally impressive is hearing him in an interview. He’s a straight from central casting quarterback who talks like a leader and acts like a leader.

That certainly came across in a session he did with the media after practice on Wednesday.

He was asked first by The Sun’s Paul Friesen about the biggest eye-opener or surprise through the first few days of main camp.

“I don’t think I’m necessarily shocked by anything,” he said. “I’m just impressed with our organization and how much we structure everything around winning. We demand a lot out of our players and this organization does an outstanding job of putting winning at the forefront. That’s very clear from the moment you walk in here and it’s very clear from the moment the vets get here.

“The veteran leadership we have here is really strong. Just getting to work with those guys and see how they carry themselves in the building and out on the field every single day is something that has been awesome.”

Elgersma’s entire interview can be found here, and it gives a good snapshot of his maturity:

3 THOUGHTS FROM DAY 5:

1 Nic Demski was at practice but a non-participant and with him taking a knee for the day Gavin Cobb slid into his slotback position. New offensive coordinator Tommy Condell clearly sees something in Cobb, the University of Manitoba product who is now entering his fourth professional season.

Cobb has been working with the starters at wide receiver and his versatility — he has also returned kicks — is valuable. The club does plan to start three Canadians in the receiving corps in Demski, Tommy Nield and some combination of Cobb, Kevens Clercius and Joey Corcoran. Also in camp is 2026 CFL Canadian Draft pick Josh Jack of St. Mary’s.

We’ve also seen a ton of sets featuring Michael Chris-Ike and Dante Daniels at tight end and fullback.

2 Nuer Gatkuoth got more work today after watching a lot during his first full day as a Blue Bomber and you can see his quickness instantly. How he fits into a very deep defensive line group will be interesting. Among the newer DL guys who have taken turns jumping out through camp are Michael Fletcher and Arnold Young and Kydran Jenkins, Kemari Munier-Bailey and De’Shaan Dixon.

We wrote about Dixon earlier during rookie camp and he has been getting a ton of work with the defensive 1s up front opposite Willie Jefferson.

3 Elgersma opened the day with the second offensive unit, but Terry Wilson also had reps with that crew. Just a note to fans, too: don’t read anything into reports on X — including by yours truly — about an interception here or there. All the QBs throw them in camp and it hardly sets off alarm bells unless they happen frequently and then in the two preseason games.

Head coach Mike O’Shea on the QBs:

“It’s a good group. The room is skilled, they’re qualified and they’re good guys and they all have the ability to lead. We’ll let the preseason games unfold and see where that takes us.

“Obviously, we don’t need preseason games to say that Zach is a stud and then how they all sort out after that is… we wouldn’t be doing them any favours if we determined on Day 5 of main camp where they all slotted.”

REFS IN THE HOUSE: The Blue Bombers practised Thursday with an officiating crew doing their thing. The CFL’s new timing rules — the 35-second play clock automatically starting when the previous play is whistled dead — is something all teams are working through right now.

“The new clock operation, we have to have command over that before we take the field in our first regular season game,” said O’Shea. “That will be paramount. I’m still working through how that’s going to affect our situational play.

“After the three-minute warning (where the timing is the same previous), we know how to do that. we know how to operate. But in the meat of the game if you’re behind or ahead, how does this really look and what are you doing.

“So, it’s great to have (the officials) here. We should get another good compliment of guys here in a couple of days and then we’ll try and run a full clock with scenarios and just try and learn. That’s what we do — put the plays in, put them in a situation and then as coaches dissect it, look at the film, look at the clock timing and see where we’re at.

“We learn as a staff,” he added, “and the quarterbacks, especially, see what differences there are.”

NEXT: Friday’s practice session will go from 9:05 a.m. -12:10 p.m.

And for those who might want to come out on the long weekend, the practice schedule can always be found here.