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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Bombers defensive end Matt Jaworski says the thought of getting back to football served as motivation while he recovered from injuries suffered in a serious car crash in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate Winnipeg taking me back and I\u2019m ready to go,\u201d he said after practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball helped me get back to normal. It was motivation\u2026 \u2018All right, let\u2019s get back. I\u2019ve got a season to get back to.\u2019 It was always in the back of my head \u2014 if my body let me, I was going to come back to play football and I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot a couple scars, but didn\u2019t break any bones, and feel pretty good. Excited to be back and ready to play football.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fordham University product didn\u2019t go into the specifics of the accident, but he was in the hospital for several weeks and lost a significant amount of weight.<\/p>\n
The Bombers initially signed Jaworski to the practice roster last October.<\/p>\n
\u201cA huge thanks to my parents, for a while they took care of me \u2014 for about a month or two. It took me about two months to get back to normal and getting in the gym again and just starting to get my diet right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day needed work to get back to normal and get back to where I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaworski made his pro debut at the end of the 2025 campaign when he started the regular-season finale at home against Montreal.<\/p>\n
The 6-5, 260-pound defender made a strong first impression by recording a sack and a tackle in the outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was here before, we obviously really liked his work ethic and the habits he has, and certainly those foundational habits are what allow a guy to come back and get to this level again,\u201d said head coach Mike O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen football gets taken away from you, when they step back on the field, I think there\u2019s just a ton of gratitude and joy, and things seem right again.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Bombers defensive end Matt Jaworski is back on the club\u2019s practice roster after being placed on the retirement list following a serious car crash earlier this year. <\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t really got into the full details of that with him, but he\u2019s certainly been through a whole hell of a lot in the last little while.\u201d<\/p>\n Kydran Jenkins and David Reese have both started at the defensive end spot opposite Willie Jefferson this season. With neither Jenkins nor Reese jumping off the page, the door is potentially open for Jaworski to eventually find his way into the lineup.<\/p>\n Jaworski was a four-year starter at Fordham and was named second-team All-Football Championship Subdivision \u2014 the second highest level of U.S. college football \u2014 and the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cI was nervous (today). But you just need a couple of days, you stack days and get your confidence back,\u201d said Jaworski.<\/p>\n \u201cMy body feels great and I\u2019m excited for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bombers (4-4) host the Ottawa Redblacks (0-8) on Friday.<\/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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