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News October 1, 2024

Need to Know | Week 18

The Blue Bombers at practice on Tuesday -- photos by Cameron Bartlett

@EdTaitWFC

The Canadian Football League work week regularly opens with the usual messages from the loop’s headquarters — among them the honour roll salutes to players, the latest power rankings and playoff simulations.

We ask now that you lean a little closer here for a secret about life in these parts — all of that stuff means diddly poo to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, even as so many bouquets are being tossed their way.

And so it was on Tuesday as the Blue Bombers began on-field preparations for Friday’s visit to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats. Three players were named to the Week 17 CFL Honour Roll for their work in the 55-27 win over the Edmonton Elks in quarterback Zach Collaros, receiver Kenny Lawler and linebacker Fabian Weitz for his work on special teams.

They are atop the CFL’s Power Rankings once again after winning their seventh straight and clinching a playoff spot and the offence — courtesy a six-TD effort by Collaros & Co. and an attack that racked up 526 yards net offence.

Yet…

“(The win over Edmonton) was a lot of fun. I don’t think it means anything today,” Collaros told a group of media following practice on Tuesday. “What matters is what we did on the practice field today and what we’re going to do in this game here moving forward. We still have two days of prep left.

“Any time you can execute at a high level like that watching it back the day after with the guys is more fun. But like I said after the game, you’ve got to make sure you’re not glossing over mistakes and things you can do better. I hope that we were able to do that and we took it to the field today and were able to correct some things.”

So there you have it — career game, featuring some gaudy numbers for an offence that entered the week ranked last in production — but there clearly no celebratory cigars passed around afterward.

“Sometimes you just have the right looks, it’s your first or second read in the progression and it makes it a lot easier to get through it,” Collaros continued. “But that’s our goal — to execute at a high level and when you do, you should score touchdowns.”

Asked if the win over Edmonton was closer to the bar the offence has set for itself — or if they have a bar — Collaros added:

“My bar is to make every play perfect. It’s not easy to do. It’s the beauty of this game, especially offensive football. I’ve said this ad nauseum: it takes 12 guys to be right on the offensive side of the ball for it to be perfect, for it to go really well.

“Sometimes if you’re a quarterback or a running back you can make a guy miss, but when you really get a beautiful play, a perfect play, everybody is in unison. So, we’ve got to keep striving for that.”

For the record, the Blue Bombers are now seventh in offensive points in averaging 23.2 per game and seventh in offensive touchdowns with 30.

“Even when we were first or second that’s not something I really pay attention to; you pay attention to the next play,” said Collaros with a shrug. “Obviously, you probably feel better about yourself when the rankings look a little better but I’m proud of the work we’ve put in as the season has progressed here and we still have a long way to go to get to where we want to be.

“We’re moving in the right direction.”

OUCH REPORT: Blue Bombers DT Miles Fox, OL Gabe Wallace and FB Bailey Feltmate were all back practising yesterday after missing chunks of action. Fox has been out since the second week of the season and, while fit, has not had any contact in a long spell.

WR/KR Lucky Whitehead did not practice after playing last week, while DL Devin Adams and Celestin Haba were present, but non participants.

 

QUOTABLE: Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Buck Pierce when asked by CJOB’s Derek Taylor if there is a point where he stops being surprised ‘at the catches Kenny Lawler makes, or does he still surprise you?”

“He still surprises me. When you witness him every day and see him every day and watch him play with some great, some toughness and a little bit of a chip — because he’s got that ability to attack the football — when you have a receiver and know he’s going to make a play, the quarterback trusts that kind of stuff.

“He’s awesome. He awesome to watch. He’s fun to be around and his leadership has grown over the years and we’re going to need it down the stretch for sure.”

AND…: This week’s question posed by our talented social media squad asked Blue Bombers players who they would be if they could swap lives for any fictional character: