Chris Randle and his compadres on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence didn’t need to be told or reminded about any of it: they lived every single nanosecond of it.

And so when their boss – defensive coordinator Richie Hall – told reporters earlier this week that last Saturday’s performance in a 29-28 loss to the Toronto Argonauts was ‘embarrassing’, it was hardly a revelation to the men in the defensive meeting room.

That said, the comment did come across about as subtly as a 2×4 across the lips.

“That does sting,” said Randle of Hall’s comments. “You don’t ever want to be the reason why you lose a game. We didn’t perform to our standards. We can take a few positives from that game, like the two-point conversion stand, and we did have some turnovers. But the amount of yards we gave up (556) and the time of possession (37 minutes, 55 seconds for the Argos offence), those things hurt us in the end.

“Hearing that from our coach, it hurt. But we know as players – the veterans, the rookies, the collective unit – that we have to do better. We already felt that ourselves. We’ve flushed that out and now we want to get better on the field.”

Just to put that 556 yards net offence generated by the Argos into perspective, it is not only the highest total surrendered by the Bombers this year, but also last year. And in 2015. And 2014. In fact, it’s the most yards surrendered by a Bombers defence since giving up 622 in a 38-11 loss to the Calgary Stampeders back on Oct. 5, 2013.

But it’s here where Randle & Co. would also like to hold up a stop sign to some of the panic in Bomberland. The Bombers gave up huge chunks of real estate last week, but also were a missed field goal on the last play from being 12-4, not 11-5. And there is no comparing the bunch that has taken the field in the last couple of years to the crew that lined up on defence through 2013-15.

“The yardage we give up has been a topic of conversation around here for the last two years. It’s just noise,” said Randle. “The record reflects how we play and how the game goes. Sometimes the other team is the better team or have a better gameplan, but then our offence or special teams step up for us. It’s always a team effort. At the end of the day we want to be great and as a defensive unit, you don’t ever want to be the reason why. But this is the CFL, and everybody plays at a high level.

“It’s all about the ‘W’ and however we get it, we get it.”

What the Bombers readily admit they need much more of defensively is consistency. Just a couple of weeks ago, the defence limited the B.C. Lions to just 327 yards and 20 points – a good chunk of that yardage and two scores coming late in the game. But the Argos cranked out some 423 yards passing last Saturday, with 223 being YAC yards – yards after the catch.

“It stung hearing what (Coach Hall) said,” added T.J. Heath. “But he didn’t have to tell us that, because we had already seen it. It was almost like a check… it definitely hit us. That’s when a lot more communication started happening and we got more accountability from more guys. That’s what needs to happen because we’re playing for each other. We’ve got to continue doing that because we’re slacking off sometimes and having games where we’re up and down. We’ve got to be more consistent.

“I get it, that it’s the game of football. But there’s too much of that inconsistency. I feel like guys are in a good space, that we’re going to go ahead and close out this home playoff game and continue to push forward. But what coach said to us woke up a lot of guys.”

“We’ve had enough time to talk about the things we’ve been doing. We gave up 500 yards… that’s unacceptable. We had a chance to talk about that and just refocus. Everybody is in a good space, we’ve had a good couple of days of practice. The playoffs are getting close… we just want to keep a positive vibe.”

BOMBERS REPORT – October 26, 2017

The Bombers completed their final full practice today in advance of Saturday’s home date vs. the B.C. Lions. Here is the news of the day before the team has its walk-through practice Friday…

NOTHING’S OFFICIAL, BUT…

The Bombers offence went another day without left guard Travis Bond or right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick manning their spots along the O-line. Pat Neufeld continued to work in Bond’s spot with Manase Foketi at right tackle.

Bombers coach Mike O’Shea reiterated after practice that players don’t necessarily need practice reps in order to suit up on game day. The Bombers will make this week’s depth chart official Friday morning.

“You look at the number of reps they’ve taken up until this point and there’s a lot of redundancy,” said O’Shea. “How many times have we run a certain play by the time we hit this point in the season? From training camp on, some of those plays it’s in the hundreds. They can close their eyes and do it. They’re professional, they know what they’re doing, they work hard in the meetings and when they’re not on the field they watch in practice and watch the film like everyone else. They communicate, they think about the game, they talk about the game with their peers. It all adds up to guys being able to step on and do it.”

COATES BUMPED UP

Matt Coates continued to work in Julian Feoli-Gudino’s wide receiver spot at practice and will likely start there against the Lions on Saturday.

“We do take it seriously, we do evaluate on a weekly basis how we’re going to win each and every game. A lot of times that’s continuity and sometimes it’s not,” said O’Shea. “(Coates) knows what he’s supposed to do. He runs hard. He’s physical. He’s done it before. He’s a veteran guy. He practises hard and deserves a shot to catch more footballs.”

FINE NEWS 

The CFL issued its weekly player discipline report and the hammer came down on two players involved in last week’s Bombers-Argonauts game. First, Argos linebacker Rico Murray was fined for a ‘dangerous tackle’ on Weston Dressler after picking up the Bombers receiver and pile-driving him head first into the turf.

As well, Bombers defensive tackle Cory Johnson was fined for his ‘high hit’ on Argos QB Ricky Ray that resembled a forearm shiver.

WILD ABOUT WILD

Linebacker Ian Wild saw his workload bump up considerably this week and he could certainly see more defensive snaps against the Lions on Saturday.

“You can put him in a lot of different places and you know what kind of effort you’re going to get from Ian every single play, which is 100 percent full out all the time,” said O’Shea of Wild. “We saw it on special teams last week and he’s been a very productive player for us on defence and we’ll see if he can’t roll in in some different packages and situations.”

SHUFFLE IN THE DEN

The Lions, officially eliminated from the playoffs, could see a handful of roster changes from last week, including Chris Rainey taking over at running back for Jeremiah Johnson. Tyler Davis is expected to handle some of the punt return chores while Luther Maddy could start along the D-line.

Asked if those potential changes impact the Bombers in their preparation, O’Shea said:

“We really do spend a lot more time focusing on ourselves. The coaches focus on scheme throughout the week, put the plan together prior to the week starting and figure out how they’re going to attack us and how we’re going to stop and counter-attack them. We present it to the players and then they just worry about learning it and executing it.

“When you change players, they’re not really changing systems. They’ll look the same on film. When you put new guys in, you want them to show they can execute the playbook and you want them to do it with the least amount of mistakes. But for us, it doesn’t change how we prepare.”

ANOTHER HONOUR FOR ‘THE LINCOLN LOCOMOTIVE’

The Black College Football Hall of Fame announced its class of 2018 this week and it includes Bomber legend and Canadian Football Hall of Famer Leo Lewis. Lewis played from 1955-66 with the Bombers and retired as the club’s all-time leading rusher (he still ranks second to Charles Roberts). Lewis, who died in 2013, is part of a hall-of-fame class that includes Harold Carmichael, Raymond Chester, Thomas ‘Hollywood’ Henderson, Grey Lloyd and Everson Walls.

FYI

The Bombers moved their practice indoors to the Subway Soccer Complex on Thursday, not because of the cold, but due to the severe wind… “We need to take a step up in our play and raise that level,” said Andrew Harris. “That starts with how we practice every day and the expectations we have as a team. We need to raise that. This time of the year, the games get faster, they get more intense and there’s a lot more at stake. We’ve got to rise to that occasion and this game this week is going to be a big one for us.”