Protecting quarterbacks talk of Bombers practice

Zach Collaros said he believes the hit that knocked him out of last week’s game against the Calgary Stampeders warranted a penalty flag, but he’s also not surprised that the outcome was any different.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback called the blow delivered by Stampeders’ defensive lineman Clarence Hicks in the second quarter of Friday’s 41-20 defeat “pretty clean,” but took umbrage with the timing of the hit.

“It seemed late,” Collaros said. “That’s never going to change in this league, though.”

The hit to Collaros’ chest area caused the back of his head to hit the turf and sent him immediately to the locker room, where he remained the rest of the night. No flag was thrown on the play.

Collaros is listed on this week’s injury report with a neck injury.

“I just think there’s not a lot of consistency,” said Collaros, who has previously been vocal about the CFL’s streaky record when it comes to protecting its quarterbacks.

“I that that’s the frustrating part. I think there’s ways to mitigate those hits from happening. I think they’d have to be drastic, and I don’t think the (CFL Players Association) are ready to do those kinds of things.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea, who is on the CFL Rules Committee, said quarterback safety is “one of the first things we always talk about” at meetings.

“Does it always work out that way in the field? No, it doesn’t always work out that way. It doesn’t always look that way,” he said. “Sometimes, they’re doing the right things, but it doesn’t actually look like that on TV.”

O’Shea didn’t say whether he agreed the hit on Collaros was late, but rather spun his answer differently:

“Late or not, I didn’t think we were going to (win) a challenge on that one,” he said.

Regardless of whether a flag should’ve been thrown, the most concerning part was the health of the two-time Most Outstanding Player. That’s what made Collaros’ full participation in Tuesday’s practice at Princess Auto Stadium an important sight.

The Bombers (3-2), who will travel to Toronto to face the Argonauts (1-6) at BMO Field on Saturday (6 p.m. CT), are reeling after two straight beatdowns and can’t afford to be without their most important player.

Collaros said he expects to play in the contest, which is a collective sigh of relief for his teammates and fans.

Backup Chris Streveler, who had one of the best performances of his career while starting in place of Collaros against the B.C. Lions in Week 2, underwhelmed when he was thrust into action against Calgary, going 16-for-25 with 136 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Granted, Streveler had all of training camp to prepare for his start against the Lions, whereas he had to overcome a four-point deficit against the league’s top defence last week.

“It’s tough,” Collaros said of the situations that backups are asked to overcome. “You want all the reps, right? Shoot, I think this is the only place I’ve ever been that the backup actually gets reps. That’s rare. So it is tough. It’s very tough.

“That being said, one of the main reasons that my career has lasted so long is because I’ve had those opportunities, unfortunately, when a guy’s gone down. Dating back to college, when I was with the Argos, with Ricky, if he never gets hurt, probably my life is radically different.”

The offence looked to be putting together a decent outing before Collaros exited the game and even had a promising drive going out of halftime with Streveler at the helm, but a red zone interception thrown by Streveler killed that series, and the offence never regained traction. The unit has left each of the last two contests frustrated with its performance.

“I think we are one or two plays away,” receiver Nic Demski, who had a career-high 146 receiving yards in Week 7, said of the offence’s recent stretch.

“I thought we started off pretty good and all that stuff, and I still do think we make plays — we put yards out there, we put together great drives — but what’s a great drive without finishing with points on the board, right? So, one thing is we definitely have to be better at taking care of the football, and definitely be better about putting points on the board, whether that’s three or seven. I mean, obviously the ultimate goal is seven, but we just can’t be having these great drives with no production at the end.”

Collaros and Streveler have thrown a combined six interceptions — three returned for touchdowns — in the last two games, which has effectively knocked the Bombers out of both contests. The blame isn’t solely on the offence, though.

The defence has allowed 7.68 yards per play and conceded seven big plays (passes of 30-plus yards and rushes of 20-plus yards), as Winnipeg has been outscored 78-36 in the last eight quarters. It’s appeared to unravel as a collective at times, too, with some uncharacteristic plays in all three phases.

“I think it’s the amount of things, because some were big and some were minute, but too many. Too many penalties, too many giveaways, too many busts, too many times a lack of communication, out of gaps, missed tackles — too many to survive,” said O’Shea.

“Certainly didn’t get the response we wanted, and I expected better. They expect better. They want better for their teammates. Just gotta put in the work and get it done.”

The Bombers already have enough motivating them, being on the losing end of back-to-back bad losses, but this week’s rematch of last year’s Grey Cup presents yet another reason for this team to get up for a road contest.

They will face an Argos squad that has also gotten in their own way on several occasions this season.

“I think we’re just a little extra juiced up to get back on the field. We’re not happy with the way we played, obviously, not just last week but the previous one,” Collaros said.

“Going all the way back to last year, we haven’t talked about that, and we would never talk about that anyways. I know they have a great staff and great players, and we’re on the road. It’s always tough to win on the road, so it’s gonna be a battle for us.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam