WINNIPEG – Mike O\u2019Shea will field a revamped roster when the Blue Bombers host the Toronto Argonauts and try to end a three-game losing skid Friday.<\/p>\n
Injuries factored into some changes, including one that has some fans scratching their heads.<\/p>\n
Others, particularly in the secondary, are aimed at boosting performance after Winnipeg (3-3) lost 31-17 to Toronto (2-5) last week.<\/p>\n
Watch the matchup LIVE Friday evening at 8:30pm ET\/5:30pm PT on TSN1, TSN3 and the TSN App, or catch a Data Enhanced feed streaming LIVE on TSN+.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome were out of necessity and some are game planning with what Toronto has on their roster, what we have on our roster and how we think it fits and how you get matchups and stuff like that,\u201d Blue Bombers head coach O\u2019Shea said after Thursday’s walk-through practice.<\/p>\n
Chris Streveler will be under centre for Winnipeg after starting quarterback Zach Collaros left last week\u2019s game at halftime with a neck injury that\u2019s sidelined him for the rematch.<\/p>\n
Nick Arbuckle gets his eighth start for the Argonauts. Chad Kelly is on the six-game injured list because of the serious leg injury he suffered in last year\u2019s CFL East Division final.<\/p>\n
The change on Winnipeg\u2019s offence that’s sparking questions from fans is the replacement for injured star slotback Dalton Schoen.<\/p>\n
Kody Case filled in for Schoen last week, but Case was carted off the field with what appeared to be a leg injury.<\/p>\n
Rookie Joey Corcoran from Montreal makes his first start at receiver. He\u2019s caught six passes for 36 yards in six games.<\/p>\n
Third-year CFLer Gavin Cobb will back up the receivers, meaning healthy veteran wide receiver Dillon Mitchell has yet to get into a game this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The American was moved to the practice roster and unavailable to the media Thursday.<\/p>\n
The former three-year Edmonton Elks pass catcher and kick returner was a big off-season acquisition for Winnipeg after inking a one-year contract that\u2019s been reported as worth $148,000, including a $63,300 signing bonus.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWhat you pay a player to get them here doesn\u2019t guarantee them anything,\u201d O\u2019Shea said.<\/p>\n
Mitchell has played slotback in his career, but O\u2019Shea sees him as a better fit a wideout now held by Keric Wheatfall.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cSo do you move Keric Wheatfall to a position that he\u2019s not suited for either, or do you put guys where they\u2019re not possibly going to thrive as well?\u201d O\u2019Shea asked.<\/p>\n
The nuances of slotbacks using the waggle before the snap is different than wide receivers who usually run from a standing position, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose type of ideas about, ‘oh, he should be able to do this, he should be able to that,’ it\u2019s not always the case,\u201d O\u2019Shea said.<\/p>\n
Corcoran is playing because of his desire and willingness to block, get his hands dirty and play special teams, the coach added.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg\u2019s secondary was shuffled for the rematch, including cornerback Marquise Bridges shifted to the practice roster and five-year dime back Reda Kramdi making his first CFL start at safety.<\/p>\n
“We weren\u2019t playing well, we weren\u2019t good enough,\u201d was O\u2019Shea rationale for the changes.<\/p>\n
Argonauts receiver Damonte Coxie is coming off a career-best 145 receiving yards with one touchdown off six catches last week.<\/p>\n
The six-foot-three wide receiver often has a height advantage over his defenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an advantage, but also I respect all of them over that side \u2014 tall or short,\u201d Coxie told reporters after a practice earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Toronto won the turnover battle 7-1.<\/p>\n
“I told them just because we had a win, we can\u2019t have a false sense of confidence,\u201d Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. \u201cWe built a little bit of confidence, but we\u2019ve got to have a great sense of reality.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re 2-5 going against a team that\u2019s .500 and at their place and they play well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streveler was optimistic heading into the game, even though one practice this week was cancelled because of poor air quality.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019ve done enough this week to feel really good about our game plan and what we\u2019re doing, with guys where they\u2019re supposed to be, all that stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I feel good about it, guys feel good about it and we\u2019re ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
LOPSIDED LOSSES<\/p>\n
The Bombers have lost three consecutive games by more than 14 points for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n
ON A ROLL<\/p>\n
Arbuckle has a seven-game stretch of starts with at least 240 yards passing and an eight-game run with at least one passing touchdown. He needs 36 yards to reach 10,000 career passing yards.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG – Mike O\u2019Shea will field a revamped roster when the Blue Bombers host the Toronto Argonauts and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-39291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}