Three days after the fact – and after the now-infamous punt fake on which everyone in Bomber Nation still seems fixated – Andrew Harris chose to instead float a positive narrative.

Asked Monday following practice to gauge the mood of the 2-2 Blue Bombers both in the immediate aftermath of Friday night’s 45-42 loss to the B.C. Lions and in the days since, the veteran running back offered an interesting take.

“After the game when you came into the locker room everyone was still really positive,” began Harris. “Everyone was shaking each other’s hands and saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ A lot of times after a game like that there’s a lot of pointing fingers or a little bit of animosity. But everyone was positive.

“Obviously, we wanted to come out with the win. But it’s a loss we have to build off because we’ve got to get that killer instinct. We’ve developed it, but it’s just mental errors that put us in those situations. It comes down to mental toughness and everyone being on the same page.”

Andrew Harris (33) and Jackson Jeffcoat (94) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the locker room before the game against the BC Lions at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, BC., on Friday, July 21, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

Now go ahead and accuse Harris of donning the rose-coloured glasses, if you will. But there was frustration, not anger, immediately following Friday’s loss. And when the team returned to work on Monday, their focus was all about Thursday’s home date with the Montreal Alouettes.

But with so many still chatting about the botched fake punt from deep in Bombers territory – a Justin Medlock pass attempt to Derek Jones was knocked down – head coach Mike O’Shea and some of his troops were asked to re-live it.

Medlock, FYI, refused comment Monday when asked by a media scrum if he had called the fake punt. And O’Shea, as was the case Friday, insisted all the slings and arrows be fired directly at him.

“It’s my call,” he said. “Like all the other ones over the years, they’re my call, right? Everything that goes on on the field is my call, OK?”

When pressed and asked if he regretted the call, O’Shea added:

“We’d do it again. If teams want to bring pressure and want to block punts and don’t want to cover our gunners, then we’re going to have to throw them the ball to get them to stop rushing the punter or continue to risk getting the punt blocked.

“Everybody in that room, everybody in the organization, hates to lose. And the group we have, coaches included, they all look at themselves first, what could they have done better first. It’s just one of those things that I know I’ll have to look at and I’m OK with that. These are the decisions I make and I’ve got to learn from them and live with them.”

But back to Harris’ take about the post-game reaction and the mood on Monday…

Essentially, the lack of finger pointing or cracks appearing in the Bombers collective resolve comes from a simple explanation: every phase – offence, defence and special teams – had a hand in the Bombers shaking off a slow start to build a 15-point fourth-quarter lead.

And every phase – offence, defence and special teams – had a hand in not being able to seal the deal.

Yes, it’s difficult to point fingers and slap somebody on the back when the blame and the praise is spread between so many.

“We came out slow, we ended up dominating in the third quarter and then let it slip away,” said Harris. “We know we have a great football team, but we also know we made some mistakes that led us to falter and ultimately, to the loss.

“Everyone made plays at certain points in time to get us to having that lead and everyone contributed to letting it unravel, too. It was a two-way street. Now we have to finish.”

Andrew Harris (33) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Mic’hael Brooks (90) of the BC Lions during the game at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, BC., on Friday, July 21, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

BOMBER REPORT – July 24, 2017

OUCH REPORT: The Bombers have only two full days of practice this week before playing host to the Montreal Alouettes Thursday night.

Linebacker Maurice Leggett, a late scratch before last week’s loss in Vancouver, did not practice, nor did his replacement in the game, Brandon Alexander.

Head coach Mike O’Shea said if Leggett can’t practice on Tuesday he would likely be ruled out. Alexander, meanwhile, will be reassessed on Tuesday. In the interim, Roc Carmichael was working at the linebacker spot – where he got the most work during training camp. DB Kevin Fogg continues to get some work, but DE Tristan Okpalaugo was again a practice spectator.

A STRANGE, BUT TRUE PICK SIX: The first career interception by Jake Thomas last Friday was a memorable one, not just because he tipped a Travis Lulay pass out of the air before catching it, but because he then pitched it to Kyle Knox as part of a 34-yard Pick-Six touchdown.

“Once I got the hand on it I was just trying to track it more than anything and just trying to keep the ball alive,” said Thomas Monday, who had a couple of D-line teammates snapping photos of him as a media scrum surrounded his locker. “Then… I don’t know… they were trying to tackle me and I was standing up. I played a lot of rugby growing up and you’re always looking for someone and we always talk about anytime we get the ball we’re trying to score. Luckily, Knox was there and he was able to make a great move and score a touchdown.

“I’m glad it was him, too,” added Thomas. “I took a penalty earlier in the game that took his first career pick off the board so it was nice to get him a touchdown. I kind of saw his eyes, saw him there and he did the rest. I just caught the ball and handed it off.”

Knox, meanwhile, had his coach’s message repeating in his head as he broke towards Thomas after the pick.

“I’m still thinking about it, how it was such a good play by Jake getting that interception and for him to have the awareness to pitch it to a teammate and then me being in the right position to be able to capitalize on it,” said Knox. “It was just a helluva play by all of our teammates.

“Coach O’Shea always preaches that if we get an interception and we’re about to go down to look around for a teammate and try to pitch it. Once I recognized that Jake had the interception, my initial reaction was to go block for him. As I started running up and saw him trying to hand the ball off all I heard in my head was Coach O’Shea saying, ‘Look for the pitch!’”

TWO MORE ON THE BOARD: Darvin Adams added his second and third touchdowns of the year in Friday’s loss while posting a season-high 87 yards on five receptions. And his one-handed grab for his second TD was a catch-of-the-year candidate.

“Matt threw a great ball and I just had to come down with it,” Adams explained. “My instincts said to put up one hand and I did that and was able to pull it in. I’m happy the guys up front did their job to give Matt time to throw and that he had trust in me to throw it. And now that I look back on it I’m like, ‘Dang, that was a good catch.’ It was a good catch, but I wish we could have won the game.”