Dinwiddie hopes to spark Bombers

WINNIPEG—Blue Bombers’ quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie didn’t get fitted for a cape this week.
Even though he’s confident about starting against the Calgary Stampeders tonight, he doesn’t expect to come out and be Superman for his winless team.

“That’s one thing me and [head coach] Doug [Berry] talked about,” Dinwiddie said following yesterday’s practice.
“[He said], ‘You don’t have to be a saviour, you don’t have to go out there and do too much. You’ve just got to manage the football game and give us an opportunity to win the game.’”
Dinwiddie got the nod this week to replace starter Kevin Glenn as the 0-4 Bombers try to right their ship against the 3-1 Stampeders.
It’ll be Dinwiddie’s second pro career start—the first one being last year’s Grey Cup loss to Saskatchewan after Glenn broke his arm in the East Division final against Toronto.
The third-year CFL’er knows it wont be easy to stop the Stampeders’ defence, which has allowed an average 351 yards of offence this season (third in the CFL).
But he welcomes the opportunity to again showcase his talents from the opening whistle.
“I always visualize myself as a starter up here; to do well with the opportunities when I get them,” Dinwiddie said.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to just prove myself around this league.”
Dinwiddie only has played in one game this season—last week’s loss to B.C.
He completed 20 of 33 pass attempts for 227 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Berry said his decision to change quarterbacks doesn’t mean he thinks Glenn is the reason for his team’s winless state.
“I think that everybody is responsible for it, whether it be starting from the coaching staff right through the running backs, through the O-line, through the receivers,” he said.
“It certainly can’t fall just on the quarterback.”
The defence also shoulders some blame, and special teams to a smaller degree, Berry added.
“We’re going to win and lose as a team, but right now we’re not being productive enough, especially offensively.”
Glenn said it’s been a different week, but he’s still preparing as though he’s going to play. Does last year’s East Division most outstanding player think a message is being sent to him?
“It’s kind of tough to answer that question,” said Glenn, who’s completed just 63.9 percent of his passes and has eight interceptions to two TDs.
As if things weren’t bad enough for the Bombers, they also learned this week that veteran middle linebacker Barrin Simpson will miss the rest of the regular season after he tore a pectoral muscle tackling a Lion in last week’s game.
He’ll be replaced by rookie Joe Lobendahn.
Linebacker Ike Charlton said Simpson’s leadership and talent will be missed, but everybody has to step in to fill the void.