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Alex Brink (THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

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TORONTO -- He said Tuesday exactly what you'd expect the new starting quarterback of a professional football team to say:

It's just another game, not much really changes from the old guy, and the only thing that matters now is getting the next win. Or, in this case, the first win.

But the reality is tonight's contest between the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is not just another game for newly christened starting quarterback Alex Brink, or for that matter, the Winnipeg Football Club.

No, what tonight represents is nothing less than the beginning of the biggest single opportunity Alex Brink has ever had to prove he has the bona fides to be a starting quarterback in the professional game. And for the Bombers as a team, it's nothing less than the beginning of what looks to be a month-long audition to determine if the club has any better options available than the hard-luck, oft-injured man who has been their starter, Buck Pierce.

Beginning tonight and continuing for what's expected to be at least three games after this one, Brink -- or if he falters, his backup Joey Elliott -- is expected to be the starter in place of the ailing Pierce.

The Bombers revealed Tuesday that Pierce tore ligaments and a muscle in his left foot last Friday in a 42-10 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos, and while no one wanted to put a firm date on when he'll be back, the consensus number being tossed around Tuesday seemed to be something around four weeks.

That's an eternity in an 18-week CFL season, and head coach Paul LaPolice and general manager Joe Mack seemed to leave the door open this week to the prospect that Brink or Elliott could win Pierce's starting job with a solid performance in his absence.

"Anytime guys get to play, they get a chance to prove themselves," LaPolice said Tuesday. "And when guys get a chance to prove themselves, it allows you to gather more information about them."

A solid performance in the context of the Bombers' current 0-3 record couldn't be simpler: Just win, baby.

Which sounds simple enough, except when you consider this 2012 Bombers team has never, even for a second, held a lead in a game this season.

Enter Mr. Brink. "Honestly, I'm not really focused on the starting job right now," Brink said Tuesday shortly after arriving on a morning flight. "We have such an important game against Toronto that, more importantly, I want to focus on going out and beating the Argos.

"A win would be huge for us coming into a big (upcoming) homestand of four in a row. Anytime you don't have a win, you're looking to get that first one out of the way because it's just a monkey on your back.

"We're looking to get that monkey off and try to build on that and find an identity for ourselves."

Brink has started three games for the Bombers previously -- two last year and one in 2010 -- and the Argos say the Bombers don't look a whole lot different with Brink in control than with Pierce.

"Buck may have a little bit better mobility, but this guy can still run too," Argos head coach Scott Milanovich said Tuesday. "It hasn't really changed (our) thinking and how we're going to defend them. They're still doing a lot of the same things, taking their shots (deep downfield). And you get into situations where they're coming down with it and the possibility of pass interference exists when you throw deep like that.

"So our guys are going to have to really play the deep ball well and get after the quarterback and not let him get comfortable."

The man whose job it is to keep Brink comfortable says his task tonight is no different than when Pierce was throwing the ball.

"We need to make sure he feels comfortable. And we're comfortable with him taking the snaps, for sure," said left tackle Glenn January. "He's a great quarterback and he's done well whenever given the opportunity."

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

The starter

Alex Brink

Born: June 2, 1985, Eugene, Oregon

College: Washington State

CFL Seasons: 3

Previous games started For Bombers: 3

Bombers record when he starts: 1-2

His style: "I'm the type of guy who is very prepared and invested in the game plan. From a preparation standpoint, I like to think I will know what's coming from the defence. I might be more of a pure passer than the scrambling type, but that's not to say I can't get out and make plays with my feet...But Buck and I are also on the same page, so more importantly, there's going to be a continuity between him and I."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 18, 2012 D1