Stampeders’ depth being tested
Sign former ROY receiver Matthews
John Hufnagel has always been pragmatic when it comes to football injuries.
“I call it the bounce of the ball,” said the Calgary Stampeders’ general manager. “It’s shaped a certain way and you can’t predict the bounce all the time and you just have to be ready for it, and adjust accordingly when those adverse conditions arise.”
Hufnagel has generally managed to stay philosophical and upbeat even through a ridiculous run of serious injuries sustained by Calgary receivers.
His lingering optimism is at least partly rooted in the fact his ball club is on top of the West at 11-2, despite Eric Rogers’ knee surgery in early August, Kamar Jorden’s season-ending knee injury on Labour Day, DaVaris Daniels’ broken collarbone in Week 14 and Reggie Begelton’s broken arm in last weekend’s home win over Toronto.
Rather than look around the league for a trade to make, Hufnagel on Monday signed receiver Chris Matthews, who was most recently with Baltimore of the NFL and was also the CFL’s most outstanding rookie in 2012 while with Winnipeg.
“My preference is not to trade,” Hufnagel said Sunday, before the Matthews deal was announced. “I don’t like giving away assets, especially Canadian draft picks. Sometimes you are forced to do that and we have done it on occasion. Usually I’d rather rely on the hard work we put in in the off-season with our scouting department, get the young guys up here and let them have a go at it. But as always there are situations that arise and you need to do something.
“Fortunately we haven’t been in a position where we’ve had to make a lot of trades because of injuries. We’re getting close to it now.”
The rash of injuries has opened up playing time for young and new receivers alike, and has put new demands on quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. The Stamps beat Toronto on Friday, he threw for 307 yards and hit nine different receivers, but he said the timing was off on too many throws. It showed in a dismal 58.8 completion percentage.
“I mean, I’m not proud of the 300 yards tonight. It should have been 450 and five touchdowns. It should have been a very big night,” he told reporters after the game.
That said, he was proud of the way receivers like Julan Lynch and Juwan Brescasin performed after Begelton was injured.
“Our depth is being tested and guys responded. That’s the beauty part about it,” said Mitchell. “None of them are hamstring tweaks, pulled quad, they’re all season-ending type injuries and that’s what’s really, really being detrimental to us. But hey man, we have faith in our guys and every guy stepped up.”