Cotton to start at running back for Bombers

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This article was published 09/10/2014 (4072 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will shake up their offensive backfield in an effort to stop a five-game losing streak and jump start their last-ditch push for a playoff spot.

Head coach Mike O’Shea said today that Paris Cotton will start at running back for the club, sending Nic Grigsby to the bench.

Grigsby is tied for third in rushing in the CFL with 744 yards, but the Bombers have been especially ineffective running the ball of late. Grigsby has just 121 yards in his last three games and is averaging just 3.78 yards over that span.

“We’re just trying to provide a different spark for the offence, trying to shake things up a little bit and get something going,” said O’Shea. “It’s not as much what Nic does as just trying to change things up a little bit… trying to make a difference.”

Cotton and Grigsby were neck-and-neck to land the starting running back chores through training camp before Cotton was injured in the last preseason game. Grigsby then rushed for 122 yards in the club’s opener and had three touchdowns in Game 2 to wrap his mitts around the job.

“(Cotton) is built a little lower to the ground, he runs a little lower to the ground,” said O’Shea when asked to compare the two backs. “He’s a little shiftier and harder to see back there. He’s got a good burst. Remember, in training camp Paris Cotton was great. And then he got hurt. But what we saw of him was pretty dynamic.”

“It’s just a chance to get back on the field and help this team win,” added Cotton. “It’s hard to have patience to do what you want to do, but I think I handled it pretty well and I’m ready to play.

“I feel great. I had a couple of weeks off and I’m looking forward to getting on the field again. Nic is a great back. I know he came out here and gave us everything he had to win games. It wasn’t hard being behind a great back, but I am happy to be back on the field. “

The Bombers will make two other significant lineup changes for Monday’s Thanksgiving Day matchup in Edmonton against the Eskimos as both slotback Nick Moore and linebacker Ian Wild will return.

Receiver Cory Watson and defender Demond Washington did not practice today, but O’Shea expects both of them to practice in the next couple of days.

Asked today if there was any one area he was focusing on in helping right the ship again, O’Shea said:

“Does it have to be one? I don’t think it has to be anything really different than what we talk about. The focus has to remain extremely high. They’ve got to look each other in the eye and show their teammates they really believe we can still get this done because it’s still there for us to take. We have to prove to everybody that we want it, but it terms of what we focus on, I don’t know that a lot of has to change.”

The Bombers, at 6-8, are last in the West Division but trail the B.C. Lions – 7-7 after losing three straight – by just two points.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait