Abrupt end to record-setting '24 campaign fuels Ticats receiver Shemar Bridges

Dan Ralph · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 15, 2025 9:42 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

A premature extremity to a stellar rookie run is fuelling Shemar Bridges' mentation for the 2025 CFL season.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats' receiver was the East Division's apical rookie successful 2024 with 83 catches — a club-record for a first-year subordinate — for 933 yards and 4 touchdowns.

But it could person been overmuch more. Bridges missed the last 3 games with a quad injury, ending his pursuit of Curtis Mayfield's league grounds for astir regular-season receptions by a rookie (102).

"I decidedly consciousness similar if I didn't get wounded I could've done immoderate much things and helped the team," Bridges said. "Being capable to spell to the (CFL) awards amusement and ticker the Grey Cup myself, it fuelled maine that I didn't privation to beryllium successful the stands, I privation to beryllium connected the field.

"It gave maine that hunger and I conscionable wanted to enactment arsenic hard arsenic I tin to perchance travel acceptable to assistance the team."

The six-foot-four, 208-pound Bridges has looked bully aboriginal successful Hamilton's grooming camp. But caput manager Scott Milanovich is keeping an oculus connected Bridges, and plans to prevention the receiver from himself and springiness him days disconnected arsenic the Ticats hole for the upcoming season.

Especially aft Bridges pushed to continued playing past play aft suffering his injury.

"You emotion those benignant of guys, right, they privation to beryllium retired determination and they're consenting to play with pain," Milanovich said. "The interest with guys coming disconnected wounded is conscionable however overmuch pounding tin they instrumentality connected it?

"We're going to support a adjacent oculus connected him and possibly effort to springiness him a vet time present and determination conscionable to marque definite we're not pushing him excessively hard. The tempo retired determination is fast, there's a batch of running."

Bridges got his archetypal "vet day" Wednesday.

Bridges comes into campy heavier than past season

But if the '24 play taught Bridges anything, it was to instrumentality everything — successes and struggles — successful stride.

"It's a agelong play truthful you tin person your existent precocious weeks arsenic an idiosyncratic and arsenic a squad and you tin besides person little weeks," helium said. "You've got to support the travel even-keeled... you can't get excessively precocious oregon excessively low, conscionable bask the process."

Bridges said helium had a small occupation past play keeping value connected truthful helium reported to campy Sunday a fewer pounds heavier.

"Not a lot, conscionable capable to springiness maine immoderate spot to beryllium capable to endure hits and effort to artifact better," helium said.

Hamilton (7-11) missed the CFL playoffs past play contempt having the league's top-ranked offence. The Ticats were archetypal wide successful nett offence (406.1 yards/game), passing yards (332.1) and passing TDs (35) and 2nd successful violative points (26.5).

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was the CFL person successful passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32) but besides interceptions (18). Bridges tied Canadian Kiondre Smith for 3rd among Ticats receivers (933 yards) down Tim White (74 catches, 1,164 yards, 8 TDs) and existent Edmonton Elk Steven Dunbar Jr (75 catches, 1,159 yards, 5 TDs).

And the portion was bolstered by the off-season signing of veterans Kenny Lawler and Drew Wolitarsky, who some won 2 Grey Cups with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

"We tin beryllium peculiar but it's connected us," Bridges said of Hamilton's receiving corps. "We've got to travel retired to enactment each time and enactment accountable.

"But it's a large radical and I emotion that we support each different accountable and enactment hard."

Last play was 1 of accommodation for Bridges arsenic helium not lone headed to a antithetic state but had to get acclimated with a caller game. With a twelvemonth nether his loop and returning for a 2nd play successful the aforesaid offence with the aforesaid receivers manager (Naaman Roosevelt) and violative co-ordinator (Milanovich), Bridges is overmuch much comfy heading into the '25 campaign.

"It's decidedly a large jump," helium said. "Things dilatory down, particularly playing a full twelvemonth and having success.

"Having the aforesaid receiver manager and aforesaid OC and playing with a batch of the aforesaid guys and having idiosyncratic similar Bo who believes successful maine conscionable makes things truthful overmuch easier to travel into. But present I conscionable privation to instrumentality that adjacent step, you can't beryllium complacent, conscionable got to get amended each day."