![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Zach-Collaros-8-29681-Large.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNo one will admit it as such unless they\u2019ve been forced to guzzle a gallon of truth serum \u2014 the party line across the Canadian Football League is always every rep in every training camp session matters, after all \u2014 so we\u2019ll raise our hand and make a counter-observation.<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have now unofficially hit the \u2018dog days\u2019 of camp where every drill and practice can blur into the next and the anticipation for the first preseason game \u2014 coming this Saturday in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Roughriders \u2014 is absolutely, positively bubbling over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all itching to play,\u201d said Blue Bombers quarterback Taylor Elgersma to a swarm of media following Wednesday\u2019s practice session. \u201cWe\u2019ve been hitting each other for long enough now and it\u2019s time, since we\u2019re all wearing the same colour, to go hit someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 We\u2019re all ready to go put some points on the board on someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blue Bombers have been at it every day since May 10th \u2014 the rookies practised three days before that with a one-day off the field in between \u2014 and that grind, coupled with Mother Nature being particularly nasty, has many in Bomberland in a cranky mood.<\/p>\n
Take that vibe and couple it with what\u2019s at stake on Saturday with so many fighting either for starting jobs or roster spots, and there is a healthy tension growing.<\/p>\n
As per usual, most eyes will be on the play of the quarterbacks on Saturday and, specifically, who shines behind QB1 Zach Collaros. Elgersma, the big Canadian, has had a solid camp and both veteran Terry Wilson and Bryce Perkins have had their moments, too. Payton Thorne, the other QB in camp beside CFL QB Internship Program invitee Cole Anseeuw of the University of Manitoba, did not practise on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Blue Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea said the rotation of the QBs for Saturday will be determined in a meeting with offensive coordinator Tommy Condell Wednesday night and will also include a conversation with Collaros about how much time he\u2019ll need in the preseason to be ready for the opener.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg\u2019s second preseason game comes a week from Friday \u2014 May 29th \u2014 vs. the B.C. Lions at Princess Auto Stadium with the curtain raiser on the regular season going Friday, June 5th in Calgary against the Stampeders.<\/p>\n
Collaros could easily make the case for a ton of work in the preseason, seeing as he is operating a new-ish offence with Condell now calling the shot as the club\u2019s third different offensive coordinator in as many years and with at least two changes to the receiving corps.<\/p>\n
He played in both preseason games a year ago, although he attempted only two passes in the second contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just like really embracing the system, the offence, the details, getting repetitions with all the guys \u2014 I\u2019m a big rep guy and if I could take every rep, I would,\u201d said Collaros. \u201cSo, it\u2019s about feeling comfortable with the concepts. A lot of the concepts are similar to things that everybody has done in the past in this league. But it\u2019s coached differently with different expectations and all those things.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you want everybody to stay healthy and just keep that upward trajectory as we get to the regular season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, fans always fixate on the quarterbacks \u2014 practice, preseason, regular season or playoffs \u2014 but O\u2019Shea said what they\u2019re looking for from their group of pivots on Saturday essentially applies in general terms to the entire roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same thing we\u2019ve been talking about learning about everybody: when there\u2019s an opponent there that\u2019s actually going to hit you \u2013 because we can\u2019t practice like that and we won\u2019t \u2013 what are their reactions? Do they rise or do they not?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in practice when you\u2019re running a skelly practice and you\u2019re throwing, the DBs aren\u2019t necessarily breaking up through receivers so the timing always good for the most part. So, now the receivers will be getting hit and the timing has to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taylor-Elgersma-13-29680-Large.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Elgersma, meanwhile, will be in game action for the first time since last year\u2019s preseason with the Green Bay Packers. The 2024 Hec Crighton Trophy winner as the top player in Canadian college football had an impressive camp with the Pack, completing 16-of-23 passes for 166 yards and a TD but \u2014 strangely to many observers \u2014 did not earn a shot with the club.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been impressive since his arrival in Winnipeg, both on the field and in his confidence with the cameras and notepads in his face in dealings with the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was obviously very exciting being able to get out there and being at Lambeau (Field) for the first time and running out of that tunnel for the first time was definitely a cool experience,\u201d said Elgersma of his preseason in Green Bay. \u201cBut I\u2019m excited to get playing here and I\u2019m excited to, when we\u2019re at home, I think it will be a similar experience running out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No one will admit it as such unless they\u2019ve been forced to guzzle a gallon of truth serum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-683399","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\/683399","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=683399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}