{"id":782604,"date":"2026-07-05T22:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/782604\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T22:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:11:16","slug":"game-day-hq-at-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/782604\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Day HQ | at Hamilton"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAMILTON, ON \u2014 His expectations have grown, as has his workload in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence.<\/p>\n

And as second-year linebacker Jaylen Smith returns home to Hamilton for today\u2019s matchup with the Tiger-Cats, what has also grown is his hometown ticket demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be fun,\u201d said Smith after practice one day earlier this week. \u201cLast year I think I had 50 people there. Hopefully, I can double that. I always love going home and I love playing there, too. Outside of last year when we lost there, I had never lost a game in that stadium. I\u2019m hoping to keep that streak going again, outside of last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, who grew up in Hamilton and played his college ball at North Texas before being drafted by the Blue Bombers in the second round last year, played high school and little league games on the site \u2014 previously known as Ivor Wynne Stadium before its reconstruction \u2014 before heading south.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty much my whole family on my mom\u2019s side and a lot of my dad\u2019s side as well (will be there on Sunday,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI probably have more friends coming this year than last year, considering the game is going to be on the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s trajectory has been a sensational upward arrow since his rookie season and he\u2019s already flashing the athleticism and positional versatility he showed at North Texas that fits in so well with Jordan Younger\u2019s defence here in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to learn, do the job they ask me to do to the best of my ability,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t really look at it as upwards until we win a championship. It doesn\u2019t matter\u2026 if I\u2019m not on defence, I\u2019m doing my job on special teams. I just want to do my job to the best of my ability. I just want to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as there are many returning players to the Blue Bombers defence, it remains essentially a wet ball of clay still being shaped into something. Smith will certainly have a role in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m extremely excited about the energy he brings to the game, the enthusiasm he brings to the game,\u201d said Younger. \u201cHe came into camp in great shape. I\u2019m just excited to see him get these opportunities \u2014 he\u2019s earned it to be out there and he\u2019s just going to get better and better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to put him in roles where he has a chance to thrive and a chance to succeed. But he\u2019s a dynamic football player who is strong enough and physical enough to mix it up and be tight to the box but athletic enough and smooth enough to be out in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICYMI, here is our Game Preview for today:<\/p>\n

Game Preview | #4 \u2014 Blue Bombers at Tiger-Cats<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And what follows are more notes and quotes to get you ready for the matchup in our latest edition of Game Day HQ:<\/p>\n

CHANGES TO THE MIDDLE MEN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Blue Bombers depth chart features some changes this week and the most significant come along the interior of the offensive line where there will essentially be changes. First, veteran Pat Neufeld returns to his right guard spot after missing last week\u2019s game due to the birth of his twins. Getting him back is massive for a number of reasons, including the ability for Tyler Elsbury to then shift back to centre, where he had been solid through the first two games.<\/p>\n

Elsbury moved over the guard in last week\u2019s loss to Edmonton, with Tui Eli starting in the middle. Eli will be the sixth OL tonight.<\/p>\n

As well, newcomer Micah Mazzccua (pronounced Maz-oo-ka) will made his CFL debut at left guard in place of Gabe Wallace, who has been moved to the reserve list. Mazzccua is a massive man at 6-5, 344 and started games at two big-time football schools in Nebraska and Florida.<\/p>\n

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea described Mazzccua as a \u201csmart, big-bodied guy who seems to play with good vision and in training camp he\u2019s one of the guys you really took notice of because he was really moving people. He\u2019s a player. He had a good week of practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the man who will be running behind Mazzccua & Co. \u2014 for those of you new here, that would be running back Brady Oliveira \u2014 on the new face up front:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited. Whatever the starting five is out there \u2014 and six when we have a sixth man in some formations \u2014 I feel totally confident,\u201d said Oliveira. \u201cI\u2019ve touched on this before but with Marty Costello, the best offensive line coach in the league, he gets those guys ready every single week whoever is going to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn talking about Micah, I\u2019m intrigued by him and excited to see how he goes out there and performs. He\u2019s a big dude, he\u2019s aggressive and he\u2019s got that meanness inside of him. You need that as an offensive lineman. I\u2019m excited for any young guy who gets his opportunity because at one point I was in his shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

AND ANOTHER ONE<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One more lineup-related change \u2014 quarterback Dru Brown, acquired last week in the trade with the Ottawa RedBlacks, will not be on the roster. Both he and Wallace are on the two-man reserve roster.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s O\u2019Shea explaining the rationale there:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just to give him another week. He\u2019s the type of guy that can absorb a playbook, but is it really fair to be thrown out there and then if he\u2019s thrown out there to play and the playbook gets shrunk a little bit because of that, because new verbiage or anything like that\u2026 I just think he needed another week.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 QUOTES ON 3 THINGS<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1 O\u2019Shea on the Blue Bombers run defence, which has surrendered a league high 154.3 yards per game through three games and allowed three different backs \u2014 Calgary\u2019s Dedrick Mills, Hamilton\u2019s Larry Rountree III and Justin Rankin of the Elks \u2014 to each eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same answer I give every time this comes up: run plays make yards because you\u2019re not where you\u2019re supposed to be or you miss a tackle when you are there and you just don\u2019t finish. And then big runs happen when you get two of those things \u2014 two guys not where they\u2019re supposed to be or a guy where is not supposed to be and then somebody else missing a tackle. Be where you\u2019re supposed to be and finish the play when it comes your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

2 Jonathan Moxey on returning to Hamilton \u2014 along with receiver Tim White \u2014 for the first time after signing with the Blue Bombers this winter in free agency:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a blessing whenever I got to a city where I used to live, used to play for\u2026 it comes full circle. I just have to lock in. I\u2019m proud of the journey, grateful to God for the journey I\u2019ve been on but I\u2019m playing for a new team now and I\u2019ve got to lock in for my new teammates and make it happen,\u201d<\/p>\n

3 Oliveira when asked where the offence is at after three games:<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back at last week, too many mistakes, too many turnovers, fumbles\u2026 that\u2019s something we have to do better and it\u2019s something we worked on this week in practice and in the prep for Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still lots of room for growth but I\u2019m happy with how we\u2019ve been playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

SKIPPING \u2018THE ROYAL WEDDING\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Just FYI, Zach Collaros is here in Hamilton with the team and, no, he did not attend the wedding between his long-time buddy Travis Kelce and pop superstar Taylor Swift Friday night in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was bummed (to miss it) because Trav came to all my stuff,\u201d said Collaros with a chuckle. \u201cWe had engagement parties, we had bachelor parties and our wedding up here. That makes it tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can speak to any pro football player and part of this deal is you miss events like that which kind of is what it is. It\u2019s not a normal job where you can take a couple days off make up your work on the fly \u2014 you\u2019ve got to play a game. That\u2019s always been tough, missing friend\u2019s weddings, family weddings, family events\u2026 it\u2019s never easy, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was then suggested to Collaros that perhaps Travis and Taylor should have looked at the Blue Bombers game schedule before scheduling their wedding date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to him other day. We were taking a walk and I said, \u2018You guys could have looked at the game schedule.\u2019 It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTABLE NUMBERS<\/p>\n

Cool stuff from the CFL stats dept:<\/p>\n

Hamilton has had 33 possessions in their three games and generated 13 TD drives. That creates a 39% success rate \u2013 no team has EVER approached that before now. The Ticats have scored on 10 drives of
70 yards or more.
\nHamilton is 14-5 after a bye week since the start of 2018, and 4-1 under Scott Milanovich.
\nZach Collaros needs just seven yards passing to move past Khari Jones into second spot in Blue Bombers history, behind only Dieter Brock.
\nBlue Bombers receiver Nic Demski now has 506 career receptions and has recently moved past Jason Clermont (501) on the CFL\u2019s list of Canadians with at least 500 catches. Next up is Mike Morreale in 16th spot at 509. Demski would need to get to 553 in receptions to move into the Top 10 on that list, headed by Ben Cahoon, who finished his career at 1,017.<\/p>\n

GAME DAY -1<\/p>\n

Sam Calvert and your humble agent set up today\u2019s game from a grassy knoll here in Hamilton:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HAMILTON, ON \u2014 His expectations have grown, as has his workload in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-782604","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\/782604","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=782604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}