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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bomber defensive linemen Willie Jefferson (centre) and Jake Ceresna kept the pressure up on the Calgary Stampeders, especially late when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can look at the tape from last year. I only had three sacks, but I\u2019m pretty sure I missed a bunch. I was able to get into the backfield, I was able to win on one-on-ones, I was able to beat double teams, I was able to do all this stuff to get to the quarterback and apply pressure \u2014 I just wasn\u2019t able to finish like how I wanted to. That\u2019s something I was hard on myself about this off-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just trying to come back and be better in \u201926.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2025, he was ranked 12th in the CFL on TSN\u2019s annual top 50 players list. This season, Jefferson\u2019s name was nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s still a lot of football to be played, the Beaumont, Texas product made voters look silly on Saturday at McMahon Stadium in a season-opening 30-28 victory over the Calgary Stampeders. He was one of the best players on the field with two pass knockdowns, two tackles and a clutch sack in the fourth that forced the Stamps to punt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s not unusual to see older pass rushers have success. And then you take into account how well he takes care of his body and how serious he is about his off-season conditioning and coming into camp prepared, I just trust him,\u201d said defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understood that he was still playing at a high level last year, and a lot of the decline in the statistics was scheme related not necessarily talent related.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jefferson now has 96 career pass knockdowns which puts him in second all time behind Canadian Football Hall of Fame defensive back Eddie Davis, who retired with 111. He\u2019ll try to add to his total Thursday when the Bombers host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-1) for their home opener (7:30 p.m. kickoff).<\/p>\n
As of Monday afternoon, the Bombers were 1,500 tickets short of a sell-out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good to see the joy come out of the quarterback (after a knockdown). He thinks he has the check down for the first down with a wide receiver wide open and then I just knock it down or catch it,\u201d said Jefferson. \u201cAnd then you just see them go like \u2018Ugh.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It also doesn\u2019t hurt Jefferson\u2019s cause that his job has gotten a whole lot easier now with Jake Ceresna suiting up beside him. Ceresna put the league on notice in his blue and gold debut with an incredible three-sack performance \u2014 the first of his eight-year career.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, you get the information about the signing of Ceresna, and then I think there\u2019s controlled optimism. Just understanding that if the moon and the stars line up the right way and we can stay healthy, they\u2019ll have an opportunity to be really, really disruptive,\u201d said Younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd their ability to compliment each other is what I was most excited for because they\u2019ll bring out the best in each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Defensive tackle Jake Ceresna came as advertised in his Winnipeg Blue Bombers debut on Friday in Calgary.<\/p>\n The last time a Winnipeg player recorded three sacks in a game was Aug. 23, 2019, at Edmonton by \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 Jefferson.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in the CFLPA together for a couple years and I had seen Jake\u2019s work ethic when we were at our AGMs. He was always in the gym working out,\u201d said first-year defensive line coach Jake Thomas.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the game, I asked him how it went and he\u2019s like \u2018You know, there\u2019s still a few plays that I left out there.\u2019 He\u2019s never satisfied and I think that\u2019s contributed to him being better every year he\u2019s been in the league. This week, I said \u2018How ya doing?\u2019 And he\u2019s like \u2018That was last week\u2019s news.\u2019 He has that mindset where him getting three sacks last week doesn\u2019t overly mean too much to him a day later.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t For the first time since Jackson Jeffcoat retired, Jefferson has a legitimate tag-team partner that will keep opposing quarterbacks up at night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different. It does feel good to know you have somebody else that can make plays at any given time,\u201d said Jefferson. \u201cI\u2019m just excited to have somebody like Jake on the line that\u2019s experienced, knows how to make plays, knows how to finish plays.\u201d<\/p>\n OUCH REPORT<\/p>\n LB Jaiden Woodbey (calf), C Tui Eli (ankle), DL De\u2019Shaan Dixon (hamstring) and DB Major Williams (hip) did not participate in practice on Monday.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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