Streveler ‘ready to rock and roll’

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This article was published 17/11/2019 (2121 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Regina — Chris Streveler is ready to play in today’s West Division final against the host Saskatchewan Roughriders. Just don’t ask the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback to elaborate beyond that.

“Feeling ready to go. We had a great week of practice and think we’re really prepared and we’re ready to rock ’n’ roll,” Streveler said Saturday.

That was about as far as Streveler wanted to take reporters, all of whom were curious about his health and whether he could have the same effect as the week before, when he shone in a 35-14 win over the Calgary Stampeders in the West semifinal. But his answers — short and to the point — suggest his goal is to do a lot more come game time.

The 24-year-old pivot went through a similar routine last week. He kept quiet about the broken bone in his foot and a high-ankle sprain and was limited in practice. It got to the point where many believed it to be a mere pipe dream for him to play, that he was simply a decoy that would draw unnecessary attention from the Stampeders.

But as witnessed last Sunday, Streveler toughed it out enough to not only play, but to be a big part of the Bombers’ second-half surge that saw the Blue and Gold outscore Calgary 27-0. Streveler had 72 of his team-high 82 rushing yards through the final two quarters, including a 24-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that sealed the win.

“There are a lot of guys dealing with different things on every team at this point. It’s such a long season. (Head coach Mike) O’Shea, last week, kind of said if you have anything left to give, now is the time to give it and that’s the mentality of not only for me, but everyone on this team,” Streveler said. “You got anything extra to give, anything left in the tank, now is the time to do it because it’s do or die at this point.”

O’Shea has never been one to divulge much, if any, information about a player’s injury and he remained true to that Saturday. Streveler was held out of the Bombers’ first two practices, but did participate in Friday’s closed workout. How much isn’t known, but it was enough to have him feeling confident that he can produce if and when he’s called upon.

“I did what I needed to do to be ready for the game,” he said. “I feel ready. Team feels ready. Feeling good.”

Streveler will once again play behind Zach Collaros, who will make his third straight start. Together, Collaros and Streveler make a two-headed monster much like when Matt Nichols (shoulder) was running the offence. The duo of Collaros and Streveler combined to put up 384 yards of net offence and 33 points against Calgary last week, including three touchdowns and four field goals. Perhaps that energy could extend to this week?

“Momentum is a funny thing. I’m usually a believer that it doesn’t carry over from game to game because each game is different, each situation is different and each play is different,” Collaros said. “It’s obviously good to win the week before but I think preparation trumps all of that. We had a good week of practice and after that comes execution and that’s the goal, to execute each play the way it was drawn up and that’s our focus right now.”

FAJARDO NAMED STARTER: The Bombers aren’t the only team dealing with a banged-up quarterback. After a week of monitoring the health of Roughriders pivot Cody Fajardo (oblique muscle), head coach Craig Dickenson has confirmed him as his team’s starter.

“He’s shown that he’s healthy,” Dickenson said. “He’s going to have some soreness and some stiffness but he’s shown that he can execute and run the offence the way we need him to. We feel like he’s going to be good.”

Fajardo, the West nominee for most outstanding player with a league-high 4,302 passing yards, wasn’t completely sure what his status would be a few weeks back.

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“The fact I wasn’t out there early on in the bye week, it wasn’t like I was just at home resting. I was in the locker room, I was watching film while those guys were out there practising,” Fajardo said. “You got to find a way to be productive even though you can’t be physically productive. And I think I personally did a very good job of that. We had a lot of good film on Winnipeg… this will be the fifth time we’ve played them, which is pretty ridiculous. So, obviously, there’s a lot of tape, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself with it, but you also want to at least get a familiarity with your opponent.”

There’s still potential for Dickenson to use the two other Saskatchewan quarterbacks — backup Isaac Harker and short-yardage specialist Bryan Bennett — and the Bombers say they’re ready for whatever the Roughriders have planned.

“My job doesn’t change at all. First and foremost, my job is to get off the ball and get the quarterback. It doesn’t really matter which quarterback is back there,” Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson said. “If they choose to put an injured quarterback back there and expect great things out of him, then that’s their decision. We’ve had a great week of film preparation and we pretty much know where they want to go with the ball. If they choose to put him back there, that’s their decision, but we’re ready to play against all of them.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.