CHANCE TO IMPRESS
Jorden in to face Bombers
For the first two games of the Calgary Stampeders’ season, Kamar Jorden seemed to have the inside track on one of his team’s starting receiving jobs. Then Bakari Grant took over. Jorden was relegated to the sidelines after the Stamps’ Week 2 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but appears set to return this weekend when those same Bombers make a visit to McMahon Stadium.
“I’m just ready to go, honestly, it’s been a long time coming,” Jorden said. “I’ve been ready week in, week out, whatever happened. It’s been somewhat of an open competition, but I know where the team is and Bakari’s our guy, but I’m up now and we won’t lose a step.
“I’ve been ready to go every week since Day 1 and we’ll be fine.”
While Grant has been putting up big-time numbers for the Stampeders over the last 10 weeks, he was forced to leave the Stamps’ big victory over the Ottawa Redblacks last weekend with a leg injury.
He’s since been added to the sixgame injured list and while head coach Dave Dickenson is hopeful Grant will return soon, it’s created an opportunity for Jorden.
Signed by the Stampeders in 2013, the 27-year-old has been working to get a chance for the better part of three seasons.
In Week 1 against the B.C. Lions, he looked to have finally made an impression with a three-catch, 73-yard and one-touchdown showing. His numbers dropped off the next week, though, as he only caught three balls for 27 yards.
“The first game, I made some plays but I made a lot of mistakes,” Jorden said. “It might have looked good on TV, but internally we know what the situation was. I made a lot of missed assignments.
“I’m just looking to recover as far as having minimum missed assignments and playing fast and playing strong and being ready to go and bringing it to them.”
Given Grant’s performances, it’s unlikely Jorden will completely unseat him as one of Bo Levi Mitchell’s preferred weekly targets — but it’s not entirely impossible.
Dickenson has shown he’s willing to stick with players who are playing well, as he did when DaVaris Daniels made an impact in veteran Joe West’s absence due to injury earlier this season.
“He’s looked good,” Dickenson said of Jorden. “Juwan Brescacin’s also been jumping in out there, so we’re just making sure we’ve got the right ratio, but (Jorden)’s been practising hard and he’s a guy I feel can succeed. He’s played against Winnipeg and if his number is called I have faith in him.”
While Jorden might be facing an uphill battle to stake his claim as a regular starter, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a young receiver.
While Marquay McDaniel is the only Stamps receiver in the CFL top-10 for receiving yards, Mitchell has been spreading the ball around as well as any QB in the league.
The Stamps have a ton of depth at the receiver position, so guys like Jorden are having to push themselves at every practice.
“I feel like that has helped us grow to really one of the best receiving corps in the league. The proof is if you look at the way the season’s gone, when one person goes out the next person steps in,” Jorden said. “That’s with us just challenging each other every day and knowing that the guy behind you, you can’t slack, because the guy behind you is just as good and ready to go, regardless.”