Latest news with #CamLawson
Global News
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Global News
Long road to recovery for Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Cam Lawson
It's been a long road back to full health for Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive tackle Cam Lawson. Lawson finally joined the rest of his teammates in training camp this week after being off the field for a full calendar year. Lawson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the pre-season a year ago and missed the entire 2024 campaign. As a result, he's just thrilled to be practicing again after last playing a game in November of 2023. 'It's euphoric,' Lawson told reporters after Tuesday's practice. 'Getting to hit people, playing football, playing the game you love, especially after a long and arduous like rehab process. It's great to be back. 'I'm coming to play ball and I'm bigger than I was in 2023 and just as fast, just as strong, and so I'm ready to make some plays and get back out there.' Story continues below advertisement Lawson called the year-long rehab process the toughest thing he's had to go through, both in his career and in life. But he initially thought the injury wasn't very serious. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I came off and my leg felt like a little unstable, like a little weird,' said Lawson. 'So, I was like, oh, I'll get it checked out at half. Went inside and the doctor is like, yeah, we'll do the Lachman test. So he checked my knee out and he's like, you don't have an ACL, and I was like alright. 'Right after I found out, I think I was in the locker room. I called my mom and I was like, that was the hard part. That was probably one of the hardest phone calls I've ever had to make.' Lawson had just started to make a big impact before the injury after recording five sacks and an interception with the blue and gold in 2023. He was given the option to play through the injury but opted for surgery to ensure the long-term stability of his knee. 'They were even considering just like rehabbing for like six weeks and putting a brace on it and play the season.' Lawson said. 'But, obviously that's a little risky, so I decided to go the surgery route.' It was a long road to recovery for the 26-year-old who's now entering his fourth year with the team and fifth in CFL after originally breaking into the league with the Montreal Alouettes. Story continues below advertisement 'I'm almost like 290 (pounds),' he said. 'It was like landing on it early in rehab obviously didn't feel great, but we pushed through it, and you grind through the pain.' Lawson will now be playing with a knee brace. 'He's just dying to play,' said Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea. 'I think the guys are excited for him that he's getting out there. Everybody knows how hard these guys work.' Lawson will likely get his first chance to test out his surgically repaired knee on Friday when the Bombers close out their exhibition schedule against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Winnipeg Free Press
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Bombers' Lawson champing at the bit
Cam Lawson entered the visitors' training room inside Mosaic Stadium last spring without an inkling that he was about to receive news that would begin the most difficult year of his life. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' promising defensive tackle had an unsettling feeling in his right knee that arose during the first half of the club's pre-season opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but was blindsided to hear it was far more serious than it looked or felt. 'It was really random. I didn't feel it at all. I hyperextended my leg for maybe half a second, continued on in the play — no pop or anything like that — played the rest of the drive, I believe. And then I came off and my leg felt a little unstable, a little weird, so I was like, 'I'll get it checked out at (halftime).' Went inside and the doctor is like… 'You don't have an ACL,'' Lawson recalled Tuesday after completing his first full practice session of the season. JESSICA LEE / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman Cam Lawson participated in a full practice session on Tuesday for the first time since suffering an ACL injury in last year's pre-season game. Not knowing the severity is exactly what made it so difficult for Lawson to come to grips with the situation. There was no pain. No swelling. No dramatic stoppage in play while he is carted off the field. It was as unassuming as an unbuckled chinstrap. 'It kind of hit me out of the blue,' he said. 'Right after I found out, I was in the locker room, and I called my mom, and that was the hard part. That was probably one of the hardest phone calls I ever had to make.' Making the injury all the more odd, Lawson was back in the gym three days later, running and front-squatting over 400 pounds without an issue. The most pain he experienced was in the week following his surgery, which almost never happened. Because Lawson looked so comfortable on his knee, he and the Bombers' training staff considered rehabbing it for a couple of months before letting him play the rest of the season with a brace on. Concerns for his long-term health prevailed, however, and sent him under the knife. He's only 26 years old, with hopes for a long and fruitful career ahead, so it wasn't worth the potential risk of further damaging the knee. 'That's easily the toughest thing I've ever had to go through. Just in life, honestly,' Lawson said. 'The rehab for sure, especially the whole year it took, so that's just why it's so nice to be back out here again and be able to run and just be with the guys.' The 6-3, 290-pounder out of Caledon, Ont., was projected to be a big piece along Winnipeg's defensive front last season before his injury. After joining the Bombers in 2022, Lawson broke out in 2023 with eight defensive tackles, five sacks and an interception across 15 games. 'He's just dying to play,' said head coach Mike O'Shea. 'I think the guys are excited for him to get out there. Everybody knows how hard these guys work. There's a whole group of them, and every year there's a few more. Suffer a setback and have to grind your way out of it, and he's one of them for sure. He's been working extremely hard to get back to this spot.' Lawson's was the second of three major knee injuries early on for the Bombers last season. He went down a week after defensive back Jamal Parker Jr. tore his ACL during the opening week of camp, and receiver Dalton Schoen followed after suffering the same injury in Week 3 of the regular season. There were mental hurdles Lawson overcame, including a setback at the nine-month mark that delayed his start to training camp, but he leaned on Parker, Schoen and his family through the regular season and during the darkest days of the off-season. 'I couldn't imagine what it would be like without those guys. They were there every step of the way with me, and we grew really close together as friends and as teammates. I appreciate them so much more than I ever have, and they put in so much work and effort, and it really pushed me to put in more effort and work. So shoutout to them, they're great. And I'm happy to see them playing, too,' he said. Lawson's full practice session comes after his limited camp appearance on Monday, when he went for close to 90 minutes in individual drills but did not participate in either team period. That cost him a picture with Schoen and Parker, who had planned to commemorate their return to the field with a group photo. They will take another one together and include quarterback Chris Streveler, who joined the rehab group halfway through the season. 'What you don't know until you do it is how long of a process it is, and so it's very overwhelming when you're looking at the whole thing. So you kind of got to zone in on one day at a time,' Schoen said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea said Tuesday that defensive lineman Cam Lawson has 'been working extremely hard to get back to this spot.' 'Me, 'Mal and Cam, we were all in the treatment room together, we're lifting and all this type of stuff, so you're seeing these guys do it every single day. So people who were viewing it from an outside perspective, it's like, 'Oh, it's been a year, you're healed up now,' but, for us, we saw each other go through the steps and the process every single day. And so that's probably why it means even more to see him back out here, because you know how hard that guy worked to be here. Super happy for Cam, 'Mal and myself.' Lawson has put on some muscle since the last time he was on the field. He will play this season around 290 pounds, up from the 275 pounds he weighed in 2023. He will also wear a knee brace all season, which he said is typical for heavier players who suffer major injuries. 'I'm coming to play ball,' Lawson said. 'I'm bigger than I was in 2023 and just as fast, just as strong, so I'm ready to make some plays and get back out there.' Running back Brady Oliveira and receiver Keric Wheatfall did not practise on Tuesday. It was the second day in a row for Oliveria, who continues to rest after playing in last weekend's pre-season contest. Receiver Dillon Mitchell was not present for the session. O'Shea confirmed it was an excused absence. The more concerning development came near the end of practice as defensive back Redha Kramdi limped to the bench while grabbing at his left groin on the last play of team period. He sat out the rest of the session and was visibly frustrated while walking into the locker room afterward. 'I didn't see,' O'Shea said after practice. 'I have no update, and with Redha, I'm never concerned with that guy. He's nails.' X: @jfreysam Joshua Frey-SamReporter Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
