Burke calls Joey’s number

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This article was published 28/08/2012 (4785 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Offensively, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers should look the same under Tim Burke’s watch. Whether that’s a good or bad thing will be determined in the coming weeks.

The biggest decision facing Burke in his brief tenure as Bombers head coach was put on the back burner Monday when he announced quarterback Buck Pierce wasn’t healthy enough to play in Regina this weekend. Burke, the club’s defensive co-ordinator who was promoted to head coach after GM Joe Mack lit the fuse that sent former sideline boss Paul LaPolice into orbit Saturday, opened his meeting with the media with an unprompted quarterback update, and not breaking character from his usual straight-forwardness, the 58-year-old put it in simple terms:

“The status on Buck is that he will not be playing this week,” he said. “He still is not healthy enough. He’ll start to practise this week; we’ll see how that goes.”

With Pierce, who suffered a left foot injury when Edmonton’s Ted Laurent tackled him in the backfield in a July 13 game, already deemed out of commission before the practice cycle begins this morning that means third-year quarterback Joey Elliott gets his third straight start against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Labour Day Classic.

Burke wasn’t ready to make any declarations about the Winnipeg quarterback situation past this week, however, successfully navigating the fence when asked about Pierce’s future with the club now that the winds are blowing Elliott’s way.

“(Pierce) was brought here to be the starting quarterback and he’s done nothing to show that he shouldn’t be, and we’ll see how Joey keeps progressing,” Burke said, adding he’s quite comfortable — and impressed — with Elliott’s play thus far. “At that time, Joe Mack, myself and (offensive co-ordinator) Gary Crowton will make a decision.”

Elliott is 64-of-103 for 855 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions this year; 1-1 in his last two starts.

Monday’s brief QB conversation might be as deep as Burke gets when the offence comes up. That’s not entirely surprising, given his defensive background; admitting he hasn’t watched much film (if any) on his club’s offence since being named interim head coach.

On top of that, he wasn’t planning on getting involved in the weekly game-planning sessions with Crowton — whose CFL experience is all of eight games — and the rest of the offensive staff.

“I’ll leave that all to Gary. My offensive prowess is minimal,” Burke said.

The Bombers offence has been a point of contention for a calendar year now, struggling to find a level of consistency that’s characteristic of a quality CFL team. Mack even referenced the offensive woes when explaining his decision to fire LaPolice:

“I was very disappointed… when I first interviewed Paul and hired him (in 2010), I was explicit that I felt Winnipeg had not had a good offence for an extended period of time and that one of the main reasons he was getting hired was to revamp and reconstitute the offence,” Mack said.

For whatever reason — injuries to Pierce, talent around him, coaching — it didn’t work out.

By turning to Burke, the club has essentially handed the offence to Crowton, a longtime NCAA and NFL offensive co-ordinator who is still learning the Canadian game, a promotion of sorts that leads to more questions.

LaPolice, widely considered across the league as one of the brightest offensive minds in the CFL, did have a big say in the game plan (which was the arrangement when Crowton was brought in during the off-season), but the current O.C. was calling the majority of the plays during the games.

Is Crowton ready to fly solo? Bomber fans are about to find out.

“I’m not going to interfere with how he calls a game,” Burke added. “I might say, ‘Hey, Gary, let’s run the ball here’ or I might say, ‘Hey, don’t worry about playing conservative here, go after their butts.’

“The No. 1 thing we will have is a single voice… everybody now will be on the same page for sure.”

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny