![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0506-Elgersma1-scaled.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: John Hodge\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma has yet to dress for a regular-season game at the professional level, but he\u2019s already a training camp veteran.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old was a three-time participant in the CFL\u2019s quarterback internship program, which allowed him to attend training camp with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2023 and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2024. He went through training camp with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted NFL free agent in 2025, then again with the Birmingham Stallions earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers won\u2019t open their full training camp until Sunday \u2014 rookie camp, which includes all quarterbacks, started on Wednesday \u2014 but when it does, it will be Elgersma\u2019s sixth professional training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a rookie, but it\u2019s nice to have those experiences to lean on. I know what it\u2019s like to go through training camps and digest installs fast, and I think that\u2019s something that I can do to be a leader in this locker room, too, with some of the young guys that are doing this for the first time,\u201d Elgersma told the media after practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I meet with them after (practice)? Can we find times to meet as a group, and I can show them some tips that I\u2019ve learned on how to digest these playbooks fast?\u201d<\/p>\n
The six-foot-five, 232-pound passer is one of four quarterbacks competing for the backup job behind Zach Collaros. Terry Wilson, who is entering his third season with the Blue Bombers, is the only one with previous CFL experience.<\/p>\n
Bryce Perkins<\/a>, who signed with the team in November, has been a professional since 2020, having won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams and the UFL MVP award with the Michigan Panthers. Payton Thorne<\/a>, who signed in January, attended training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2025 after being a four-year collegiate starter at Michigan State and Auburn.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting to know all the guys (in the quarterback room) and getting to spend some time with them, I think we all click really well. We\u2019ve got a great room, so I\u2019m super excited about getting to work with all those guys. It\u2019s been great so far,\u201d said Elgersma.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone here has a unique story and a unique background. Obviously, Zach and all his experience, there\u2019s so much to learn from him, but being in a room with a guy like Bryce \u2014 he\u2019s a Super Bowl champion, he has great experience, and so being able to pick his brain on different things.<\/p>\n \u201cPayton as well. He\u2019s had a great college career, was with (the Bengals). I think we\u2019ve all had kind of our own unique past, and it\u2019s about how can we all learn from each other and pull in the same direction because we\u2019re all here to help the Winnipeg Blue Bombers win a Grey Cup, and so that\u2019s what we\u2019re all focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n Head coach Mike O\u2019Shea seems pleased with the group of quarterbacks the Blue Bombers have in training camp.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hope is that they make the most of the reps they get. We\u2019ve got a pretty full room and (Elgersma) was the last guy to sign,\u201d said O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n \u201c(Offensive coordinator) Tommy (Condell)\u2019s done a good job of laying it all out \u2014 all the reps are accounted for and if we can steal a few extras here and there to give the entire room more opportunity, we will, but for all these guys, you just want them to hit their potential in camp. You just don\u2019t like seeing \u2026 guys come in and not be at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n With the No. 2 job under centre seemingly open for the taking, Elgersma seems ready for the competition.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single time you\u2019re playing football you\u2019re in a battle, whether you think you\u2019re secure or you\u2019re not, we\u2019re playing pro football, so you\u2019re always battling for your spot. The best thing you can do is focus on what can I do better tomorrow that I didn\u2019t do well today. What coaching points can I take away from today when we watch film and don\u2019t make the same mistake tomorrow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if you do that for your entire career, you\u2019re gonna end up in a good situation. You look at a guy like Zach, I think that\u2019s how he approaches the game, and so I think that\u2019s what I want to do as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wilfrid Laurier University product put his arm talent on display during practice, hitting Dorian Singer for a deep touchdown pass. After a year spent trying to earn opportunities south of the border, he\u2019s pleased to be back playing three-down football.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m seeing familiar shells from the defence, I\u2019m seeing stuff that I\u2019m used to seeing. I\u2019m not trying to have to remind myself of what I\u2019m supposed to be seeing \u2014 this is kind of what I\u2019m used to, so that\u2019s definitely been nice,\u201d said Elgersma.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels good to be back home. Some of the stuff that you\u2019re trying to work out of your mind when you\u2019re playing the American game and that\u2019s innate in me, it\u2019s nice to get back out there and have that feel \u2014 feel the Canadian football, feel the spacing on the field. The concepts we\u2019re running, a lot of it\u2019s kind of similar to stuff that I did in college, and so it\u2019s felt very nice to get back into a playbook like this and to get back home.\u201d<\/p>\n It was two degrees and windy during practice on Wednesday, as Manitoba seems yet unaware it\u2019s supposed to be spring. The cold weather didn\u2019t bother Elgersma, a native of London, Ont., who considers it an advantage for those who weather it well.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be here for the first time looking around this place, it\u2019s beautiful. What more can you ask for?\u201d he said. \u201cYou gotta love it, that\u2019s what we play this game for. I think if you can play well in the cold, then you can take advantage of people and I think I do it well. It\u2019s nice to get out here in the fresh air today and let it fly.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1125-Headshot-150x150.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/3downnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3DownNation-Wordmark-v3-3.svg\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: John Hodge\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma has yet to dress for a regular-season game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[349,1894,1895,15391,352,15392,15393,12837,12838,4113,15394,4114,119,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-34949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg","8":"tag-3down","9":"tag-blue-bombers","10":"tag-bombers","11":"tag-bryce-perkins","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-elgersma","14":"tag-payton-thorne","15":"tag-qb","16":"tag-quarterback","17":"tag-taylor-elgersma","18":"tag-terry-wilson","19":"tag-u-sports","20":"tag-wilfrid-laurier","21":"tag-winnipeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}