Bombers take break to lick wounds, start anew

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2012 (4829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Brink had his chance. Is it Joey Elliott time?

That was the question posed to Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice when the club arrived back in Winnipeg following a 25-22 loss to the Toronto Argonauts at Rogers Centre. Brink, a third-year player, struggled mightily in the start Wednesday night, going 9-of-34 for 185 yards and two interceptions.

LaPolice had hinted he might give Brink another chance under centre when the Bombers host the Edmonton Eskimos at Canad Inns Stadium Thursday night, but hedged on that when he spoke with reporters at the Winnipeg airport Thursday morning.

“I’m going to look at the film and evaluate it,” LaPolice said. “(The decision will be) if I feel that we have to compete more, or we just start Alex.”

Replacing an injured Buck Pierce, Brink, now 1-7 as the quarterback of record in his time as a CFL pivot, did not look very comfortable against the Argos’ defence. As the numbers suggest, he wasn’t very accurate and left a lot of points on the board, as Winnipeg was forced to settle for five field goals in the game.

“They’re a good defence,” Brink said. “They had a good game plan for us. They did a heck of a lot of things well. They played man coverage, they were able to rush four (linemen) and get some pressure, and still be able to drop 8-9 guys back into coverage.

“That’s tough on any offence.”

For those wondering, the last time Elliott started a game was Nov. 3, 2010. He missed most of last season with a torn ACL injury, but was productive against the Edmonton defence in the fourth quarter of last week’s 42-10 loss at Commonwealth Stadium.

The Bombers, now winless in four tries, will take the next three days off (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) before returning to the practice field Sunday. They certainly can use the break, as the club is severely banged up after the Argos game, with no less than 10 projected starters out of commission when the final gun sounded in Toronto.

Among the players who started but didn’t finish the game against the Argos were receiver Terrence Edwards (left leg), defensive tackle Brandon Collier (shoulder), and safety Ian Logan (leg). LaPolice said Edwards was day-to-day, while Logan and Collier would probably miss the home opener and possibly beyond.

“We’ll get better information today. Ian Logan will probably be out… he’ll probably be out for this week (against Edmonton),” the coach said. “Collier, probably also, that might be more serious long term.”

The last time the Bombers started a season 0-4 was in 2008, when they finished with an 8-10 record. The club did host a playoff game that year.