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Down a few defenders after a thrilling last-second, season-opening victory, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers immediately re-stocked the shelves.
The Bombers added a pair of linebackers to the practice roster on Monday with the signings of Ayo Oyelola and Dylan Hazen.
A 27-year-old product of the United Kingdom, Oyelola is joining the Bombers for his second stint with the club. He played the 2021 season in Winnipeg, but only appeared in one game before spending time with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hazen starred at Wake Forest, but was undrafted in the NFL and failed to land a contract at a rookie camp.
Both linebacker Jaiden Woodbey (calf) and defensive lineman De’Shaan Dixon (hamstring) left Friday’s game with injuries and neither practiced on Monday. Woodbey was walking around the field, but Dixon has been placed on the six-game injured list.
Defensive back Major Williams (hip), offensive lineman Tui Eli (ankle), and linebacker Brody Clark (thigh) also missed the first practice back. Linebacker Jaylen Smith was a full participant despite dealing with a head injury.
It’s another short week for the Bombers with just two full practices to prepare for Thursday’s home opener against the 0-1 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Particularly impressive in the season-opening win was the Bombers new-look defensive line. They had a bit of a rocky start, with the defence allowing three first-half touchdowns. But they shut it down after that, giving up just seven points in the second half.
Newcomer Jake Ceresna had a very successful debut in the blue and gold with three sacks. To put that into perspective, James Vaughters led the Bombers with six sacks all year long in 2025.
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Ceresna and Willie Jefferson together make for a formidable duo on the D-line.
“It feels good,” said Jefferson. “It gives you a little bit more confidence, especially on the field, right.
“It does feel good to know that you have, like, somebody else that can make plays at any given time.”
The Bombers recorded four sacks in the opener after finishing last in the CFL with just 23 sacks all last season.
“As you saw those are two guys you have to account for,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s a nice addition cause it’ll certainly help them both out. It’ll help everybody out, really.”
The Bombers offence also showed much improvement in the second half in the first game under new offensive coordinator Tommy Condell. They had just 58 yards passing in the first two quarters but finished the night with a respectable 359 yards of net offence, while Brady Oliveira went over a hundred yards rushing in his season debut.
It was just the first game with the new offensive playbook and considering Nic Demski had only two catches, getting everyone their touches might be one of the biggest challenges.
“I learned a long time ago,” said Condell. “It’s like my kids. We go to a steakhouse. Someone is not going to be happy. One wants hot dogs. One wants this. You know what I mean. But the most important thing is you gotta win the game.
“Number one we got the victory, so it’s always good. But there’s going to be a lot of things to improve and things we needed to work on, and little things – details maybe that the naked eye couldn’t see, but we as coaches can. So, it was good though. You’re never gonna complain about a win. I can tell you that.”
Despite talk of a pass-heavy offence, Oliveira still had 15 rushes for 113 yards with a touchdown.
“I think it was great,” said Oliveira. “I think obviously a good balanced attack of run and pass.
“I thought it was really good. I thought our offence played really good, and that was the first week of all of us together.
“I thought it was a good performance, and I think you’re going to continue to see us build week after week and it should be an exciting year.”
The Bombers will look to go to 2-0 on Thursday in their home opener against the Ticats with kickoff just after 7:30 PM at Princess Auto Stadium.
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