An offensive guru’s struggle

New quarterback, short week for Blue

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012

Nobody ever said it was going to be easy -- and they'd have been lying if they had.

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Nobody ever said it was going to be easy -- and they'd have been lying if they had.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/07/2012 (4923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nobody ever said it was going to be easy — and they’d have been lying if they had.

The task of taking over an offence that was at or near the bottom in the CFL in many important statistical categories in 2011 was always was going to be a tall order for Gary Crowton, who took over as the team’s offensive coordinator last winter.

But what Crowton — and his resume of putting together record-breaking offences wherever he goes — had no way of knowing last winter was he’d be expected to rebuild the Bombers offence based around a starting quarterback who would fail to finish two of the team’s first three games and is now out indefinitely.

ken gigliotti / winnpeg free press
Bombers coach Markus Howell works with the offensive line at practice Monday. The line has the task of protecting Alex Brink this time around. — ken gigliotti / winnpeg free press Bombers coach Markus Howell works with the offensive line at practice Monday. The line has the task of protecting Alex Brink this time around.

Want a challenge in life? Try that one on for size.

And so it is back to the drawing board for Crowton these days as he ponders at least an immediate future that no longer includes Buck Pierce as the linchpin for the new offence he’s been trying to create.

Pierce, of course, injured his left foot in a 42-10 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos last Friday and there are fears the injury could keep him out of the Bombers lineup for a lot longer than just this week.

A condition update and media availability with Pierce that the Bombers had been planning to hold Monday never materialized, with team officials saying they were still awaiting further information that would give them a clearer picture of Pierce’s condition.

The team was expecting to have that information by the end of yesterday and has tentatively scheduled a media availability with Pierce in Winnipeg today.

Pierce will not travel with the team today when they fly to Toronto, where the 0-3 Bombers play the 1-2 Argonauts Wednesday night.

But the offensive coordinator will be on that flight — as will the new starting quarterback in his offence, Alex Brink — and the obvious question to Crowton was what will be the immediate effect of Brink now being the starter in place of Pierce?

“The biggest thing is this is such a short week that we probably won’t change too much,” said Crowton, referencing the fact the Bombers’ preparation for the Argos game has consisted of just one full practice since they got beat up by Edmonton.

“With the short week, we’ll probably mostly keep doing what we’ve been doing. Alex probably is a little bit more mobile and that might factor in a little bit, but other than that we’ll just try and execute and be consistent. I think that’s the biggest thing — consistency.

“We’ve been very inconsistent.”

Which is perhaps not surprising given that the man who is supposed to be essential to providing that consistency — Pierce — did not get out of the first half of two of Winnipeg’s three games this season.

For his part, Brink says the quick turnaround may actually have been a blessing in disguise for a club that would just as soon forget what happened in Edmonton.

“We had a short week of practice, but in this case it was good. It got guys focused on this week and put last week to bed.”

Crowton says his offence needs to get better at giving as good as they get, both on the field and on the scoreboard. “We’ve gotten better, but I’d like us to be a lot more physical and a lot more consistent at finishing drives,” said Crowton.

“When we get behind in the score, we’ve got to match pace… and then all the way around — I want the receivers blocking the perimeter better. I want the linemen being more physical at the point of attack, in the run game and in protection. I want the running backs finishing the runs harder and lower, so that we get yards after first contact. And I want the quarterbacks to stay in the pocket more and be physical in the pocket.

“And I think if we do that, it will send a real strong message about the direction we want to get to.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca