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WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Joe Mack delivered a few strange explanations on Thursday.

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One of the more interesting aspects of Joe Mack's press conference was when the Bombers GM linked Richard Harris's death to the current plight of the club.

"We've had a fairly rough year for the psyche of the team," Mack said Thursday morning, addressing the media for the first time since Sunday's 52-0 embarrassment in Regina. "It started with the death of coach Richard Harris. I knew that would have a big impact on our players. As I reflect back... it had a much bigger effect on the psyche of the team than I even realized. And there were other things that maybe compounded that. There were things beyond the team's control."

Mack went on to say he felt there were "residual effects" still present from the July 2011 passing, adding "there were emotional feelings that some of the players were still dealing with." Mack felt something was absent in his club during training camp, but couldn't get specific when asked what he did to rectify that feeling.

"That's an organic thing," he said, telling the room he hoped the missing ingredient would present itself naturally. "I don't know if much could have been done, to be honest. It's just the dynamic of the whole group of players evolving."

Looking nothing like the team that went to the Grey Cup last November (an accomplishment that occurred in the same time frame Mack referenced), the Bombers have trotted out a number of reasons for their poor play. Injuries, the stadium debacle, the schedule -- subjects once taboo within the organization -- are now being voiced; excuses the team fought hard to dismiss at the start of the year.

Mack said he has a good handle on the room and believes he has a good rapport with the players. Those same players dismissed the suggestion the club was still getting over Harris's death.

"A lot of people within the organization still feel the pain of his family and what he meant to us as a coach, but I don't think people are still lingering over the passing of coach Harris," said Jovon Johnson. "It's not emotionally attached to this season. We've moved on, because in this business you have to."

Note: Johnson wasn't told of Mack's comments to ensure an honest answer Thursday -- not that the always frank Johnson wouldn't give an honest take. He was asked what he would say to those who think Harris' death still factors into the team's 2-7 record or the 52-0 blowout loss it incurred last Sunday, and his answer wasn't surprising.

"They don't know what they're talking about," he said. "It had nothing to do with passing of coach Harris or the emotions of the passing of coach Harris, it was more so they (the Riders) did to us and what we didn't do to defend ourselves."

Head coach Tim Burke said he didn't notice anything missing from the club during training camp, but added he was probably too wrapped up in his defensive co-ordinator duties to notice.

"Maybe Joe, from seeing it in a third-party perspective, could see something like that," Burke said. "What's the old saying... you can't see the forest for the trees, because you're in so deep that you maybe can't see that. It could possibly have been that way, I just didn't notice it myself."

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 7, 2012 C2