Photo: Winter is coming early in Winnipeg for Joey Elliott and the Blue Bombers

It's no secret that the CFL's often been famed for its weather: some of the most legendary games in this league are commonly referred to by the surrounding environmental conditions, such as "The Ice Bowl", "The Snow Bowl", "The Fog Bowl" and "The Mud Bowl". Still, even by Canadian standards, practicing in the snow on October 5 is a little much. That's what quarterback Joey Elliott and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were doing Friday, though, as you can see by the above picture Elliott distributed via Instagram and Twitter.

At first, this is merely a funny "only in the CFL" moment. There could be real on-field implications, though. Yes, there's no game in Winnipeg this week (the Bombers are playing the Alouettes Monday), so it's unlikely there will actually be snow during one of this weekend's games, but this adds to the already-steep hurdles Elliott has to clear in terms of game preparation. Remember, Elliott is not the guy Winnipeg hoped to have under centre Monday. That would be Buck Pierce, who's been battling a concussion sustained in last week's game, but wasn't officially ruled out until Thursday.Thus, Elliott's trying to get set for this game with only a few practices as the clear starter, and snowy conditions that make running passing plays more difficult certainly won't help his cause.

Elliott has played previously this season, with varying degrees of success, so it's not like he's coming in completely cold. However, he hasn't played for a little while, and the Winnipeg offence (which has been historically bad on the season) has changed substantially in that time. Elliott has to quickly get back in rhythm with his receivers, and that's not going to be easy in snowy conditions, either from a throwing perspective (a slippery ball) or from a route-running perspective (receivers have to be more careful making cuts, as it's easy to fall on a snowy or icy field). Fortunately for Elliott, it looks like things will get better for the Bombers' Saturday practice; Environment Canada predicts Winnipeg will be sunny with a high of 8 degrees Celsius then. The difficult passing conditions seen during Friday's practice may give 3-10 Winnipeg an even-steeper hill to climb in Monday's game, though. As House Stark would say, "Winter Is Coming"; the Bombers probably just wish it would have held off a while longer.