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![\"RUTH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4334132_web1_251028-BB-6-Kramdi--.jpg\")
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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers safety Redha Kramdi said on Monday that he\u2019s \u2018not the type to move on super fast from losses.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Blue and Gold have had plenty of time to process the setback after spending last week on a bye before returning to work on the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only Week 2, but obviously, it felt horrible. It felt like we couldn\u2019t do anything right the last game,\u201d Kramdi told the Free Press after Monday\u2019s closed practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always feel better when we watch it as a unit and we make a correction, then move on. So, losing before the bye week, that process gets cut off. It was a pretty hard bye week, I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people would say it\u2019s good, some people would say it\u2019s bad, but I\u2019m not the type to move on super fast from losses, unfortunately,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
For those who need a quick reminder, Ticats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell ripped the Bombers to shreds with three touchdown passes in the first half, while running back Larry Rountree III spearheaded a ground attack that piled up a whopping 171 rushing yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shot ourselves in the foot multiple times. It\u2019s nothing super complicated, it\u2019s just small alignment adjustments that we need to make. It\u2019s nothing big, which is frickin\u2019 frustrating because if we do the small things right, we have a chance to win,\u201d said Kramdi.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd regardless of, excuse my language, but the bullshit football we played on defence, we were down seven with 1:20 left and if we stopped them, our offence was rolling so we\u2019d have a chance to tie the game and even that we couldn\u2019t do. So, yeah, it\u2019s a pretty shitty feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through two games, the Bombers rank sixth in points allowed (32.5), seventh in opponent net offence (422 yards), and dead last against the run (171 yards per game).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at 2024 when we ended up being at the top of most defensive stats, we started pretty slowly on defence,\u201d said Kramdi.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year is different and we have a great team, great coaches, and we have every tool to be great. We just have to put it all together and execute when it\u2019s time to execute. I\u2019m not even sweating it.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Kramdi and company want to feel better about themselves, they only need to look around the league to see that most defences have stumbled out of the gates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shot ourselves in the foot multiple times. It\u2019s nothing super complicated, it\u2019s just small alignment adjustments that we need to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
CFL contests are averaging 62.8 points per game through three weeks. Last season, teams combined for 52.9 points per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can take a bit of time for a defence to mesh, but usually it\u2019s the opposite way with offences struggling early on and defences starting strong,\u201d said Bombers defensive tackle Cameron Lawson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is kind of weird that it\u2019s a pattern and that multiple teams are in these high-scoring games.\u201d<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t get any easier for the 1-1 Bombers this week. They\u2019re preparing to host the Edmonton Elks (2-0) on Thursday (7:30 p.m.), with Edmonton coming off a 32-29 overtime victory over the mighty Montreal Alouettes.<\/p>\n
Als quarterback Davis Alexander had a chance to tie the CFL record for the best start to a career by a quarterback, set by Bo Levi Mitchell in 2016 with 14 straight regular-season victories.<\/p>\n
Elks running back Justin Rankin spoiled that bid by exploding for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries while adding five receptions for a team-high 51 yards.<\/p>\n
The Bombers will have to be much better if they want to slow down Rankin, who has been one of the league\u2019s most impressive players through the first few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the best backs in the league, clearly. He\u2019s hard to tackle and that\u2019s the biggest thing,\u201d said Lawson.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gets his big plays off of guys who maybe get into the backfield and you feel like the play is over and then bam, he breaks a tackle, he hits it outside and he\u2019s super fast. He can beat DBs in a sprint. When you have him locked down and in your sights, you have to make that tackle. That\u2019s how he makes his money with those 40, 50, 60-yard touchdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bombers learned that the hard way last October in Edmonton when Rankin ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run to lift the Elks to a 25-20 victory.<\/p>\n
This season, under second-year head coach Mark Kilam and veteran quarterback Cody Fajardo, the Double E is 2-0 for the first time since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Edmonton, they\u2019ve always been a good team, they just couldn\u2019t find a way to finish games in the fourth quarter,\u201d said defensive end Willie Jefferson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just got to go out there and play our game, play Winnipeg football. When we\u2019ve got the opportunity to get off the field on defence, we have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsbury\u2019s wedding weekend<\/p>\n
Centre Tyler Elsbury had to muster up the courage to walk into head coach Mike O\u2019Shea\u2019s office and ask for Saturday off.<\/p>\n
The first-year starter had a pretty good reason: he was getting married to his high school sweetheart in their hometown of Byron, Ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good kid,\u201d said O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was extremely concerned about having to ask for another day. He did not feel very well having to ask for an extra day. So, you know he is serious about his craft, and you know he wants to do the right thing for his teammates. That\u2019s why we have teammates. They look out for you and fill in when you need them to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wedding had been in the works since last year when Elsbury stepped away from football and wasn\u2019t sure if he would return. His big day just happened to fall on the Bombers\u2019 bye week.<\/p>\n
He had more than a dozen groomsmen, including former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate and fellow offensive lineman Gennings Dunker, who was selected in the third round of this year\u2019s NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n
\t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cThey tried to kick us out once and Gennings stepped up to the DJ and said, \u2018Screw it, I\u2019m gonna pay for another hour,\u2019 so we stayed a little longer,\u201d said Elsbury.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n So, does that mean the honeymoon is in Winnipeg?<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, absolutely,\u201d said Elsbury with a laugh. \u201cShe drives up here next Sunday.\u201d<\/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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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