O’Shea upset with loss

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This article was published 20/06/2015 (3759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The result meant nothing. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers knew that going in, ditto for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

But when an organization is trying to change a culture and end a quarter-century championship drought, winning matters, whether it is an offence vs. defence drill in practice, an intra-squad game or a pre-season tilt.

So there was more than a hint of frustration in head coach Mike O’Shea’s voice after Friday night’s 26-15 loss to the Ticats in front of 24,344 at Investors Group Field. In fact, as dress rehearsals go, it was exactly the kind of sloppy performance that leaves a director ready to strangle some of the actors.

“It does matter. Absolutely it does matter,” said O’Shea afterward. “It matters to all the players in the locker-room. We had a short little talk afterward and you look around and they’re not happy. They want to win, too. It’s a good thing it affects them. It’s a good thing it makes me feel sick to my stomach and it makes the players feel sick to their stomachs.

“Pre-season or not, they don’t want to lose.”

It wasn’t just that the Bombers top offensive and defensive units looked sloppy — that’s a given in the pre-season — it’s that there was a noticeable lack of energy for large chunks of game. And in the case of some Bombers, the timing couldn’t have been worse — all CFL teams must make their final cuts by 9 p.m. today.

“I don’t think it was a good enough. We lost and that’s why it wasn’t good enough,” said O’Shea. “We’ve got a lot of tape to look at and evaluate. We saw from camp and two exhibition games there’s going to be some tough decisions. And that’s what this is for, too.”

Some of the Bombers’ frustration showed on the field, with quarterback Drew Willy twice visibly upset with the communication with receivers Jhomo Gordon and Rory Kohlert.

“The one with Jhomo… he’s new and you never see that route in the States, but he’s supposed to fade out to the sideline there,” said Willy.

“I just really wanted to get it to him because he can fly with the ball. If you get it to him in space he can do some special things for us. We talked it over on the sidelines. He’s such a good kid who has been doing some great things for us in training camp. He has such a bright future you just want him to focus in. I think he’s going to be a great player in this league.

“The other one on the goal line with Rory… we talked. He’s got to run the dig (route) there. That’s his bread and butter. He said he saw a different look so we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board.”

There figures to be a lot of that in the next few days, as the Bombers prepare to open the 2015 season in Saskatchewan in a week.

“Every competitor wants to win every game,” said Willy. “It’s important to get that winning mindset. They’re a good football team, give them credit. But at the same time we did some things on offence, defence and special teams that isn’t winning football. We’ll look at the film. Guys in the room, we’re upbeat and ready to fix mistakes and get ready for Day 1 (of practice).”

BLUE NOTES: O’Shea didn’t have an update on RB Carlos Anderson, who was injured early in the game on a kick return. “We’ll know more (Saturday). He’s with the doc right now and obviously it didn’t look good. We will see.”

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait