Not letting the door hit him…

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2014 (4066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’SHEA wouldn’t come out and say running back Nic Grigsby quit on his team but eventually said as much when answering another question Wednesday.

The Winnipeg head coach told Grigsby Wednesday morning he would not be dressing for Saturday’s game when the Blue Bombers host the Calgary Stampeders. Grigsby then asked for his release.

Grigsby then took to Twitter explaining his side of the story:

To all my teammates & fans here in the peg I love and wish you guys nothing but the best. I asked for my release!!

— Nic Grigsby (@Nic_Grigsby5) October 15, 2014

I’m a Winner, loving teammate, and a proving player! I will not sell myself short I love my family & teammates to much for that to do so!

— Nic Grigsby (@Nic_Grigsby5) October 15, 2014

To all my fans I love all the support and they backed me into a corner! That I had know other choice! Only they can answer that!

— Nic Grigsby (@Nic_Grigsby5) October 15, 2014

Teammate Chris Randle was asked about Grigsby leaving the team.

“I would never quit on my team. It’s not the way I was raised and not the kind of person I am,” said the defensive back.

When told of Randle’s response and asked how he would feel if he was Grigsby’s teammate, O’Shea said: “I think Chris Randle and I could be teammates.”

Randle said the fifth-place Blue Bombers are still in the playoff hunt and need to keep fighting, despite the long odds.

“So you just got to rally everybody, it’s hard, everyone ain’t built the same so you can see it in people’s eyes, it’s creeping in a little bit but that’s where the leaders in the locker-room need to step up and eliminate that cancer,” said Randle. “We can’t have it going around the whole locker-room that we don’t believe in the process. We still do and we still believe in each other so we got to go out there and do it for one another.”

Randle said the players still have confidence in O’Shea.

“He’s our sole leader, our captain,” said Randle. “We all go as he goes, so I don’t think that’s the issue at all.”

O’Shea said the Bombers wanted to have another look at rookie tailback Paris Cotton, who replaced Grigsby for Monday’s game in Edmonton. Cotton rushed for 31 yards on eight carries as Winnipeg was thumped 41-9, dropping the club to 6-9 on the season.

“Initially the decision was to try and provide a spark to do something to help us get in this playoff run and we came out, everybody knows what happened in the first half against Edmonton, we fell short in all three phases in that first half, which then precludes us from getting Paris as many touches as we’d like to see to allow him to be productive and show us what he can do,” said O’Shea.

O’Shea wasn’t overly amped up about losing Grigsby.

“I’m very comfortable with this decision, but it would not be smart as a leader to not go back and revisit all of the events and what we could have done differently, what should be done differently for the next situation,” he said. “I mean, it’s only smart to analyze and be critical, check yourself for validity to see how things are handled and the processes we follow. But do I believe that this was the right way to go? Absolutely.”

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Grigsby leads the CFL with nine TDs, including eight on the ground. He is also fourth in league rushing with 744 yards on 162 carries.

Grigsby had just 121 yards in his last three games and was averaging just 3.78 yards per carry over that span.

Quarterback Drew Willy had trouble gripping the ball Wednesday after being pulled from Monday’s game with a hand injury. O’Shea listed him as questionable for Saturday.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter @garylawless

lawless: it’s the players, silly d2