Bombers look to rally vs. Redblacks

Mike O’Shea is guilty of wearing rose-tinted glasses at times.

There have been situations where a certain player, or the team as a whole, has obviously struggled, and the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will downplay the questioning.

But not even O’Shea could take a glass-half-full approach to his team’s most recent performance.

The Bombers, who were on a bye last week, returned to work on Sunday at Fort Garry Lions Field for the first time since suffering an inexcusable 35-19 home loss to the B.C. Lions on July 30.

“(Inexcusable) is a good way to describe it,” admitted O’Shea after practice.

“And then you realize, everyone out there on the field is human and there are mistakes that happen — in every game, win or lose. But the way it looked, the way it felt and the outcome, yeah, I’d say inexcusable.

“I believe the players would agree.”

For those that need a reminder, the Lions — led by backup rookie quarterback Kaidon Salter, who was making his first career start — scampered for 377 rushing yards and outscored the Blue and Gold 25-3 in the fourth quarter.

Those 377 ground yards are the most the Bombers have ever allowed in a game in franchise history.

“A lot of mistakes. It’s not good enough,” said O’Shea.

“You sit on that all week, and then the guys show up ready to put in a ton of work, come in with the right mindset, and the day ends and you just feel the positivity that this is going to be fantastic for us.”

If there’s at least one positive in Bomberland, it’s the fact that starting quarterback Zach Collaros was a full participant in practice on Sunday.

Collaros (neck) has been out of action since July 5, when he was strip-sacked from the blind side in Hamilton and left the game in the second quarter.

“You sit on that all week, and then the guys show up ready to put in a ton of work, come in with the right mindset, and the day ends and you just feel the positivity that this is going to be fantastic for us.”

The Bombers, now 4-4, went 2-2 in his absence. They host the winless Ottawa Redblacks (0-8) on Friday.

Backup quarterback Dru Brown was dressed but did not fully participant on Sunday. He left the B.C. game in the fourth quarter with an apparent lower-back injury.

“It was a shot that obviously just didn’t feel very well afterward. And it lingered for a bit of time with respect to my neck,” said Collaros.

“Since I got here in 2019, Dr. Craton (team physician) and Al (Couture, head athletic therapist), all the docs involved, have been very upfront with me. It’s not a decision coming from the front office or the coaching staff, it’s just solely based on Al, Dr. Craton, and me.

“We felt this was the best week to get back into it.”

Collaros was suffering from the effects of whiplash.

It wasn’t determined right away that the 37-year-old was going to be out for a month, either. His situation was monitored on a week-to-week basis, and extra precautions were taken considering his injury history.

Even though the Bombers are coming off of two discouraging performances, Collaros remains confident they can turn things around.

“Obviously, I think we’re a group that cares a great deal and wants to win,” said Collaros.

“There are things, obviously, from the last couple weeks that we need to clean up… But we have the right guys here.”

The return of Collaros doesn’t magically cure the Bombers’ defence, however.

“The last six minutes of the game, it kind of got out of hand. We know we’re not those type of guys or team to collapse when things are needed of us… especially as a defence.”

Starting safety Redha Kramdi continues to wear a cast on his left hand and he is now joined in sick bay by dime back Michael Griffin, who was wearing a walking boot on his left leg on Sunday.

“Yeah, that’s a hole. (Griffin) gets asked to do a lot of different things,” said O’Shea.

With or without Griffin, linebacker Tony Jones understands the defence has a lot of work to do.

Jones arrived in Winnipeg in 2024, and their latest outing is far and away their worst showing since he’s been in town.

“Every loss hurts, but a loss like that, it burns a little more — especially how we felt we did pretty solid in the first couple quarters,” said Jones.

“The last six minutes of the game, it kind of got out of hand. We know we’re not those type of guys or team to collapse when things are needed of us — especially as a defence.

“We’ve just got to be better, and we will be better.”

It starts with the Redblacks — a team they cannot afford to take lightly.

After this week, the Bombers enter a daunting stretch where they play Edmonton (6-3), Montreal (8-1) and Saskatchewan twice (6-2).

“Every team, you have to expect their best,” said O’Shea.

“And if you expect anything less, that’s a recipe for a disaster.”

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