By Elliotte Friedman,
CBC Sports
You can’t fault Kevin Glenn for wanting to play on Sunday in Toronto. You can fault Doug Berry and Brendan Taman if they let it happen.
If I were them, I’d leave Glenn at home. Or, if he is allowed to travel, I’d send his uniform to Churchill. There is no justifiable reason for playing him this weekend. To do so would be near-suicide, taking an unnecessary risk with the CFL’s most indispensable offensive player (by the way, Joe Smith is now second).
Give Glenn credit. An hour after being helped off the field, he was defiantly claiming he wouldn’t miss a game. You love to see that from a player: the type of competitive fire that won’t allow him to be sidelined by anything from a hangnail to amputation. But the coaches/management have to be the sober second thought here. They’re the ones who have to look at the bigger picture and say, “Know what, Kevin? We really appreciate that you want to play. Just love that about you. But it’s better for the team that you sit this week. So you’re going to.”
Fact is, you cannot trust that kind of a competitor to be honest about injury. For example, one player in last week’s Toronto-BC game tore a bicep in the first quarter. Did he come out? No way. I’m not even sure he told anyone at the time. He knew that if he said something, he might have been benched.
Now, if the Blue Bombers were, say, Edmonton – fighting for their playoff lives – maybe you’d mummify Glenn in tape, gauze, knee braces, etc. and throw him out there. But they’re not. Winnipeg knows that no matter what happens this weekend, it will remain in first place in the East. Yes, all games are important, but this is not exactly a must-win scenario. Take advantage of your breathing room.
The other issue here is that of all the legit contenders, the Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders have the most uninspiring backup scenarios. This is perhaps your best chance to get a look at Ryan Dinwiddie. Seriously, what do we know about this guy? Well, we know he’s thrown 48 passes in his CFL career. We know there is a website dedicated to him, proclaiming him “Greatest Bronco Ever.” (That’s Boise State, not Denver.) We know that he’s the highest-rated NCAA passer ever, which is pretty impressive.
What we don’t know is if he’s good enough to be a CFL quarterback, especially on a team that is good enough to win it all. This gives Taman, Berry, and Bombers fans everywhere a chance to find out.
No matter what Glenn says about his injury, you have to worry that, suddenly, he’s a little more vulnerable. You have to consider the possibility this is something that may pester him the rest of the year. You’ve got to know what Dinwiddie is all about. And, you’ve got to give him some reps, so he won’t be coming in completely cold if the football gods decide to punish Glenn again.
He looked okay against Hamilton, but Winnipeg would have been fine with 72-year-old Kenny Ploen against that team. Toronto is a terrific test for Dinwiddie. Every CFL fan knows the Argonauts’ defensive reputation, and that’s a team Winnipeg must play once more late in the year and possibly in the playoffs. Might as well familiarize him with them in case of emergency.
Ultimately, Kevin Glenn’s the man in Manitoba. He’s having a great year and the Bombers will probably go as far as his right knee can take them. So, be smart. Why risk him in a game that’s not of incredible importance?
He may not want a one-week vacation, but should be forced to take it.
Elliotte Friedman is the host of the CFL on CBC. Catch the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats live on CBC on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
