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News September 18, 2025

48-Hour Primer | Game 14: at Ottawa

Willie Jefferson during Blue Bombers practice this week; photos by Cameron Bartlett

@EdTaitWFC

Say this about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 2025 edition: they are unwavering in their belief and steadfast in their conviction there can still be a storybook conclusion to this season.

And beneath that there is also the slap-in-the-face reality the highway is getting shorter now, what with the team on a three-game losing skid and just five contests remaining to get things back on the rails before the Grey Cup derby opens.

“It’s enough talking about it, we’ve got to go out there and show it,” said running back Brady Oliveira after Thursday’s closed practice. “We’ve got to go out there and prove it to each other.

“Forget about the outside noise and prove it to each other that we have been demanding more from ourselves to do better, to be better — not just for yourself, but for your teammates; the guys that you go to battle with every single day so that you can go out there and honour your teammates. That’s it.”

That next opportunity comes Saturday in Ottawa against the Redblacks in a contest that has taken on increased importance given the recent slide and with teams around the Blue Bombers closing.

This isn’t about locking down first place or a home playoff game as in the past, this is about ensuring there is simply a path to potential postseason glory.

REMAINING GAMES:

Blue Bombers (6-7)
Road (2): Ottawa, Sept. 20th; Edmonton, Oct. 11th
Home (3): Hamilton, Sept. 27th; Saskatchewan, Oct. 17th; Montreal, Oct. 25th

Lions (6-7)
Road (2): Calgary, Sept. 19th; Saskatchewan, Oct. 25th
Home (3): Toronto, Sept. 26th; Calgary, Oct. 4th; Edmonton, Oct. 17th

Elks (5-8)
Road (2): Hamilton, Sept. 20th; B.C., Oct. 17th
Home (3): Saskatchewan, Sept. 27th; Winnipeg, Oct. 11th; Calgary, Oct. 24th

“We can do it,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson. “We understand that first place isn’t in the picture and it’s not about a home playoff game right now. Right now it has to be about going 1-0.

“The team that gets hot going into the playoffs, the team that gels and understands what its identity is, is the team that usually makes that run. This year is totally different than other years. This year we might have to take the route we did in ’19. As long as we get hot going into the playoffs, that’s all we need.

“That’s the mindset we have. Nobody is down. Nobody is thinking negatively. Everything is positive. We’re all communicating and trying to uplift each other.”

Asked if there were any signs of discouragement from his troops based on the recent slide and the sub-.500 record, head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:

“Today looked great. I mean, they’re moving around, they’re having fun with each other. You’ve got to move on from the disappointment very quickly because there’s just another game, another team, another day, another practice, another meeting. You’ve got to move on and if you hang on to disappointment for too long, you’re bound to repeat it. They bounced back pretty quickly.

“Once again, nobody is happy with where we’re at record-wise, but they just know we’ve got to keep working and find ways to win and play better and coach better and do everythibg better around here.”

One area that seriously needs fixing in the stretch run: Winnipeg is dead last in the Canadian Football League with a -12 turnover differential that is the product of 36 turnovers this season, including 23 interceptions.

Consider this, courtesy the CFL’s stats folks — across 2016-24 the Blue Bombers never posted a negative turnover differential, finishing with a +109 in those eight seasons.

“What turns a ‘W’ into an ‘L’ is fourth-quarter mistakes,” said Jefferson. “It seems like every phase has one of those hiccups and it’s costing us. It’s a mistake or a penalty or something that gives the other team some momentum. Moving forward, we’ve all talked about it in team meetings, and it’s about us playing a complete game. We’ve got to mistake the early mistakes and then in the fourth quarter really minimize those hiccups.

“A couple of those close games, it’s one play this way, one play that way and the result is totally different. That’s what makes football awesome. One play can make or break a game. We need to start making more of those plays.”

The Blue Bombers have put their ‘just go 1-0 this week’ blinders on but also don’t have to dig too far back to see a similar path to postseason glory. The 2023 Montreal Alouettes were in a similar spot a few years back before going on an eight-game heater which ended in epic fashion.

“You don’t want to look into the past, but I look at when Montreal beat us in the Grey Cup they were 6-7 at one point and then ended up getting hot at the right time and everyone knows what happened,” said Oliveira. “There’s so much that can happen still.

“We have an amazing roster. We have the talent to make a run at this thing, to go into the postseason and do what we need to do to finish it. We’ve got to take care of business at take it one week at a time.

“It’s about executing and I do think it comes down to the details and really hammering down the details and being in your spot. Alignment, assignment, adjustments — all those things.”

OUCH REPORT: The Blue Bombers have officially listed QB Zach Collaros as questionable for Friday’s game, as is versatile defender Michael Griffin II — who has not practised all week — and DB Jamal Parker, Jr. and receiver Jerreth Sterns, both of whom have returned to practice after being on the six-game injured list.

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said Collaros ‘looked great’ but when asked whether QB1 would play on Saturday added: “We’ll see. I don’t think so, but maybe. He’s doing well.”

He also said a decision on whether Collaros has already been decided. The depth chart, FYI, will come out Friday morning before the team departs to Ottawa.

“I’ve said it from the first time I started here I will always give the players as much time as they need to be able to have the opportunity to play if I can,” he said.