Bad news for Bomber QB Drew Willy

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This article was published 12/10/2014 (4070 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers could be without starting left tackle Glenn January when they face the Edmonton Eskimos on Monday.

January did not practise with his teammates at Investors Group Field on Saturday as the club held their final full practice in advance of a critical West Division matchup with the Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium.

Head coach Mike O’Shea — whose club has struggled all season to protect quarterback Drew Willy — said January’s surprise absence from practice was the result of a sore back.

O’Shea said he remains hopeful January might play on Monday. “I don’t think having a sore back is that unusual for him. He’s dealt with it before,” said O’Shea.

January also left practice early on Friday, but O’Shea had insisted at the time he was fine.

The loss of January heading into a game against an Edmonton team that has the second-leading sack artist in the CFL in Odell Willis would be a major setback for the Bombers, who have given up a league-worst 52 sacks this season.

While no one has been particularly good on the Bombers offensive line this year, January has been the best and most consistent of the crew. And it is a monument to how thin the Bombers are on the offensive line that Jarvis Jones practiced at left tackle on Saturday in place of January.

Jones was looking like he’d be a healthy scratch at right guard this week when Cordaro Howard took his first team repetitions in practice on Friday, but Jones will now play the much more challenging position of left tackle if January cannot go.

O’Shea says he’d be comfortable with sending out Jones at tackle against the voracious Eskimos pass rush, even if he was leaning against using him at guard.

“I’ve said before that Jarvis is more of a tackle (than guard),” said O’Shea. “He’s certainly a very athletic tackle.”

Jones said the revolving door he’s been going through on the Bombers offensive line this week wasn’t as unusual as it might have seemed. “That’s football for you,” said Jones. “If a guy goes down, you have to step up. And if I have to play left tackle, then that’s what it is. I have no problem with it.”

The Bombers pass protection this season has mirrored the team’s roller coaster ride in the standings. The club yielded just 18 sacks in the first six games (average of three per game) as they got out to a 5-1 start, but they have since given up 34 sacks in the last eight games, an average of close to 4.5 per game, as they have lost seven of their last eight.

Centre Steve Morley, who is close friends in addition to being longtime teammates with January, remains hopeful January will be able to go on Monday.

“Glenn’s a durable guy, he’s a fighter,” said Morley. “He can fight through anything. I’m not worried about him…

“Glenn is a warrior. I don’t think he’s missed too many games, so he can get through anything.”

The Bombers offensive line has been beset by injury and turnover all season — regular right guard Patrick Neufeld, for instance, will miss his sixth game in a row with a calf injury.

On a unit where cohesiveness is critical, all the personnel changes haven’t helped and are at least partly to blame for why Willy has spent so much time this season staring up at the night sky.

But Morley was refusing to use it as an excuse Saturday.

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“I’m confident with the guys we have,” said Morley. “And confident with myself. I think we can do big things if we all do what we’re coached to do.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek