EDMONTON — It’s been awhile — 92 days, to be exact — and so it seems like a proper re-introduction is in order.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans, meet Keric Wheatfall. And, Keric, welcome back to Bomber Nation.
Yes, one of the Blue Bombers promising young rookie receivers will return to the Blue Bombers lineup here in the Alberta capital tonight after being out of action with a hamstring injury for more than three months.
Wheatfall, you may recall, popped off the page in his Canadian Football League debut in a road loss in Ottawa back on June 13th with three catches for 111 yards — 76 of that coming on one reception, one that still ranks as the club’s longest play from scrimmage this year.
A week later all that hard work he had put in to establish himself had seemingly been flushed after pulling up lame in a loss to the B.C. Lions. So, abso-freakin-lutely he’s going to be amped to run out of the tunnel and onto the turf tonight at Commonwealth Stadium.
“It will be like a dream,” Wheatfall said in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “A lot of guys would die to be in my position right now. I’m going to put one foot forward and just keep on rolling.
“Look, if I’ve got to block the whole game I’m going to block the whole game and appreciate all of it. Whatever I’ve got to do. This is still a big opportunity for me.”
And the receiver we’ll see tonight believes he is light years advanced from the fresh-faced rookie we saw back in June.
“While I was sitting out I was in the film room looking at all the spots, not just the ‘X’ spot where I had been playing behind Kenny (Lawler),” said Wheatfall. “Now I’m at the ‘W’ spot and I see how it works. You can learn a lot more the more you watch film, the more you ask questions. I feel now that I’m in a better position. That part is exciting. I see defences now way better than I did in the first two weeks.
“It was very frustrating to be out for this long. The thing is, I look back and I didn’t think I really played that well in Ottawa even though the numbers might have been there. My goal was to improve each week and then the injury happened. Sometimes things like that happen. You’ve got to try to move on and stay strong, grind and wait for your turn to come back up.”
That process can be especially frustrating, though, and Wheatfall was open about how the mental battle was occasionally as excruciating as the physical one.
“There was a couple-three weeks where I was in my head heavy,” he said. “I was thinking about it a lot. When you’re sitting out you’re thinking about a lot of things, like what’s happening back home, the things that are happening here.
“I’ve got some great teammates who kept telling me to keep working to get back healthy and when I did I’d be good. Well, I’m back now and I’m ready and excited.”
“When you’re a new guy it’s hard and your teammates are still trying to get to know you,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “They’re trying to support you, but they might now know exactly how. But we’ve got a good group in the training room and, unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of players going through there this year.
“He stuck with it pretty damn good and he stuck with the playbook in terms of knowing what he needs to do. He’s an explosive guy. He’s long and I like his attitude. He was settling in and getting some damn good production so we’ll see if he can’t ramp that up, too.”
Wheatfall’s return gives the Blue Bombers attack another deep threat and a dynamic target for Zach Collaros. So far this season Winnipeg receivers have posted just five 100-yard efforts — three by Pokey Wilson, one by Nic Demski and the other by Wheatfall that night in Ottawa.
“He brings consistency and an understanding of what we’re trying to do,” said Collaros. “He’s still young in his career but his professionalism is off the charts, he’s got really good hand-eye skills as a receiver. He really gets into the gameplan and tries to understand what we’re doing.
“I’m excited for him to get back out there. I know how hard he works and you see it every day in the facility and on the field. I think he’s a great talent and we’re happy to have him back out there.”
3 NOTABLE NUMBERS The Blue Bombers are 9-0 after a bye dating back to 2021, including 1-0 this season. The Elks, meanwhile, are 0-7 after a bye since September of 2021. The Elks are 5-1 in their last six, their best six-game span since 2017. No CFL team in history has started the season 0-7 and made the playoffs. Edmonton is within three points of first and second in the division. The Blue Bombers are on a five-game heater, making it the eighth consecutive season of posting at least one five-game winning streak. Since their 0-4 start, the club has a 7-2 record, best in the league.
