This season has been a major adjustment for kicker Sergio Castillo.
Not that he’s complaining.
The 32-year-old veteran from Amarillo, Texas, spent a lot of time standing on the sidelines in 2022 as a member of the Edmonton Elks. With Edmonton boasting the worst offence in the three-down circuit, Castillo attempted a league-low 25 extra-point converts in the 16 games he played. His 44 field goal tries were sixth in the CFL and his 48 kickoffs were the eighth most.
Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press
Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo has seen a lot of action early this seasaon.
Now back with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — who have scored 40-plus points in their first two games — Castillo’s leg has been busier than ever to start the year.
“Normally I do a leg workout the day after the game. But now I’ve been postponing it to two days after because the volume is definitely up. I’ll get a full rest day after a game now,” Castillo said after Monday’s practice at IG Field. “I’ve definitely had to tailor (my recovery) a bit more.”
Castillo has been nearly perfect with his heavy workload as he’s connected on all five field goal tries and has only missed one of his 10 convert attempts.
“I’ve been on teams where we’ve struggled quite a bit. In 2017 in Hamilton, we were 0-8 and struggling. In 2019 in B.C. it was the same thing. So, in Edmonton, the routine was kind of the same,” said Castillo, who signed with Winnipeg shortly before training camp after being cut by the Elks. “What I’m changing now is earlier in the week, I’m getting a higher kick count. Normally I get four to five kicks with the team, now I’m getting eight to 10. And then on my own, I normally get eight to 10, but now I’m doing 10-15 and it’s just to get the leg conditioning up right.”
“But yeah, I guess it’s a good problem to have.”
Grant’s return continues to be the talk of Bomberland
Football is the ultimate team game.
Janarion Grant’s 92-yard punt return touchdown in the Bombers’ 45-27 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday proved that sometimes there can be exceptions to the rule.
Just ask Bombers special teams co-ordinator Paul Boudreau.
“It’s probably up there at No. 1,” said Boudreau after practice on Monday when asked to rank the return. “In sports, a lot, they say you can’t do it all on your own. But he pretty much changed that theory right there. There was really a bunch of guys out there, watching him break tackles and trying to catch up, if they could, to make at least one block.”
Grant, who now has 10 return scores since arriving in Winnipeg in 2019, made nine Riders miss and threw several stiff arms along the way. With Grant running side to side to dodge all the green and white shirts, Boudreau estimates the returner from Rutgers ran a total of 150 yards on the play.
“For him to still have air in his lungs by the time he got to the goal line was just as impressive as breaking eight or nine tackles,” said Boudreau.
Twitter: @TaylorAllen31
Taylor Allen
Reporter
Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of…
