More than 200 days have elapsed since Henry Burris last threw a pass against a Canadian Football League opponent at TD Place stadium.

You probably remember: a rainbow that wide receiver Greg Ellingson pulled out of the sky and turned into a 93-yard touchdown play lifting the Ottawa Redblacks to a 35-28 victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division final.

Monday’s matchup with the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers won’t have as much significance, given that it’s only the Redblacks’ first preseason game of the new CFL season, but it has some.

For example, how Burris performs in the first live-action test of his 20th pro training camp will determine whether he plays a lot, a little or not at all in the second and final pre-season game four days later on the road against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“That’s why I want to do the best I can when I’m out there with the starters and to make sure that we get our stuff going, get our plays in sync, get on the same page and click and, hopefully, put some points on the board against a very good Winnipeg defence,” Burris said after Sunday’s low-speed walk-through session.

“But, the better that we do, hopefully it will give the coaches a much better feeling toward whether I need to or don’t need to go to Hamilton. It is quite a turnaround with four days between games, and I think one of the last things they want to do is get guys beat up before we do go to Edmonton.”

That would be for the Redblacks’ June 25 regular-season opener against the Eskimos. Who else besides Burris travels to Alberta’s capital will in many cases depend on coaches’ assessments of pre-season performances against the Blue Bombers and Tiger-Cats, with one cut-down to the CFL mid-training camp limit of 65 players plus exemptions set for Tuesday and another to the regular-season maximum of 46 next Sunday.

Burris is expected to play roughly one half on Monday, with head coach Rick Campbell saying Sunday that Trevor Harris would also receive playing time at quarterback with the first-unit offence.

Every athlete still in Redblacks training camp is scheduled to be on the field against the Blue Bombers, Campbell added, except for four players either injured or returning from injury: defensive end Aston Whiteside, fullback Brendan Gillanders, offensive lineman Nolan MacMillan and defensive back Jeff Richards.

“We are going to play everybody (else), but the scoreboard’s on, so we want to try to win the game,” Campbell said. “Then, obviously, evaluation is a huge part of it. There are some tough decisions that are going to have to be made on (Tuesday), so we want to make sure we get a good look at all these guys.”

Like the 2015 Redblacks, the Blue Bombers will have played both of their pre-season games before the first roster cut-down date, including last Wednesday’s 36-13 victory against the Montreal Alouettes.

They brought 60 players to Ottawa, about 10 fewer than they dressed Wednesday and not including former Redblacks defensive lineman Keith Shologan.

“Especially with this second (game) being on the road, you just have to make sure that everybody is getting a fair opportunity to be evaluated. Right?” head coach Mike O’Shea said at the Bombers’ downtown hotel. “The way it unfolded with the pre-season schedule, that’s the way it is. We managed to figure it out pretty well, I think.”

Among those hoping to use pre-season games to cement a Redblacks roster spot is receiver/returner Jamill Smith. He was with the team all season in 2014, but was released following training camp in 2015, and it was only after injuries to Chris Williams and another returner that Smith was re-signed in October.

He has yet to break a return for a touchdown as a CFLer, but he catches everything kicked in his direction and has had a good camp at receiver.

“I’m just out here getting better every day,” Smith said Sunday. “I’m two years better than I was the first year. That’s my goal, just to get a little bit better every day.”

Because final stadium construction touches were still being applied in 2014 and because of the Women’s World Cup of soccer in 2015, Monday’s game will be the first pre-season contest the Redblacks have played in Ottawa. It will also be the first home game since that unforgettable East final.

“Every time you come into this stadium, every time you come into TD Place, it’s an electric feeling,” Smith said. “Even though you haven’t seen the fans (in the stands), you can feel it when you walk around the whole city. You can feel the energy, you can feel the enthusiasm when you walk around.

“It’s so exciting for us to get back on our road to that glory, and we’re ready, too.”

EX-COLLEGE TEAMMATES SQUARE OFF

Mike Moore and Trent Corney were buddies and teammates with the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

Now they’re 22-year-old rookies trying to earn roster spots as Canadian Football League defensive ends, but that’s where their stories diverge.

From Maryland, Moore signed with the Ottawa Redblacks as a free agent in late May, and Monday’s pre-season matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be his first live-game CFL experience.

From nearby Brockville, Corney played part of the 2011 junior football season with the Ottawa Sooners, with multiple home games on the artificial turf of what was then Frank Clair Stadium. Selected ninth overall in the 2016 CFL college draft, he’s also one-up on Moore in CFL experience, having suited up for the Blue Bombers’ pre-season matchup with the Montreal Alouettes last Wednesday.

Two quarterback sacks and even a 10-yard kickoff return made it memorable.

“It’s really fast-paced,” Corney said Sunday afternoon at the Blue Bombers downtown hotel. “I was playing special teams and I was coming on and off really quick. Like 1-2 … first down, second down … and then it’s third down and it’s special-teams units.

“I was running on and off for punts and punt returns, back and forth, and I was like, ‘Might as well just stay out here and put a chair out here and just hang out here until punt return comes (again).”

The two members of the Virginia CFL defensive-line alumni chapter have exchanged text messages throughout their respective training camps and were trying Sunday to arrange an evening get-together in Ottawa.

Corney also planned to dine with his father Dave and uncle Steve, two of between 40 and 50 friends and family expected to be in the stands of what is now TD Place stadium.

Both Moore and Corney were listed as potential starters for Monday’s contest on the depth charts, but that could change before kickoff.

While Corney has the benefit of that one game of pre-season action and the knowledge that the Blue Bombers invested a second-round draft choice in him, Moore must try to stand out in a crowd of more than a dozen defensive-line candidates on the roster with only the game opportunities — the Redblacks also play at Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats on Friday — to make an impression on coaches.

“They lost a lot of good guys on the defence, the defensive-line especially,” Moore said, referring chiefly to the off-season departures of tackle Keith Shologan and end Justin Capicciotti as free agents and the release of end Shawn Lemon, all of whom started for the Redblacks in the Grey Cup game against the Edmonton Eskimos.

“But we still want to keep bringing the heat, keep getting the sacks, keep making plays like the defensive line has done in the past.”

Moore’s father, Shawn, started two 1995 contests at quarterback for the Ottawa Rough Riders, the first of three CFL teams he was with that season, including an Aug. 4 loss against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Frank Clair Stadium.

Mike Moore said his father’s advice was to emphasize “that I’m playing football and to have fun. That’s one of the biggest things he keeps reminding me. No matter where you’re at, just keep having fun.”

MOST HANDS ON DECK

Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said all healthy players were expected to be in tonight’s game. Because Sunday’s session was a low-speed walk-through, there was little to report in the way of on-field developments, although it was interesting to see newcomer Mike Moore lined up at defensive end with what seemed to be the rest of the first-team defensive unit.

NO SHOLO

Keith Shologan, who spent the past two seasons in Redblacks colours before signing with the Blue Bombers as a free agent, was one of four veteran defensive lineman who didn’t make the trip, the others being Euclid Cummings, Jake Thomas and Jamaal Westerman.

WILLY OR WON’T HE?

QB Drew Willy, coming back from knee and leg injuries that curtailed his 2015 season, played about one quarter in the Bombers’ first preseason game last Wednesday. Told that the Redblacks were expected to play their starter, Henry Burris, for about a half on Monday, Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea joked that the Bombers might then opt to stick with Willy for “a half and one play.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m two years better than I was the first year. That’s my goal, just to get a little better each day.”

– Jamill Smith, a receiver/returner in his third training camp with the Redblacks.

BACK TO THE LEFT

The goalpost at the east end of the TD Place stadium was reinstalled overnight following the Fury FC soccer game against Rayo OKC. Once again the football post leaned noticeably to the north, in the direction of Ottawa’s world-famous sinkhole.