Flanders a spectator as Bombers prep for Lions

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This article was published 26/10/2017 (3097 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FOR a third straight week, Timothy Flanders has spent every day of practice with both hands shoved into the front pocket of his Winnipeg Blue Bombers hoody.

The image has been a strong indicator the running back will likely miss another game as he works through a pulled hamstring.

It’s also a subtle reminder of what the offence could be in store for, as they get ready to battle the B.C. Lions at Investors Group Field Saturday afternoon.

Flanders won’t be the only one missing from the offence, but he might be the most important. Not only does Flanders offer another undeniable threat out of the backfield, he has been just as dangerous in the pass game, often lining up at receiver.

Without Flanders, the weight of a struggling running game will fall solely on the shoulders of Andrew Harris and further thin a receiving corps that has undergone a major overhaul over the past month, especially with the loss to injury of deep threat Darvin Adams.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea has seemed unconcerned by all the moving parts on his offence in recent weeks, even if the results have been worrisome.

“I don’t talk about the new guys coming in and thinking there is going to be a significant difference,” said O’Shea following Thursday’s practice, which needed to be moved indoors due to heavy winds and snow.

“I think there is a difference in Timothy Flanders not being in because he offers that second tailback option. But other than that, when you’re not using Timothy Flanders, across the board guys are able to step in and play multiple positions.”

He added: “I don’t think we think about pieces being juggled as being a detriment to us being successful.”

Perhaps O’Shea was taking solace from what he’s seen for most of the 2017 season.

Winnipeg’s offence has been so prolific at times this year that despite struggling the past few weeks it still ranks among the best in the league.

The Bombers, who are 11-5 and in second place in the West Division, average the most points per game (28) in the CFL and have scored the second-most touchdowns (43).

But as good as they’ve been, the past few weeks they have been far from dominant. Over the last three games, Winnipeg has averaged a dismal 292 yards of offence, going 1-2 over that stretch. In their lone win — a 26-20 victory over the Lions Oct. 14 — the Bombers offence mustered a season-low 232 yards and didn’t score a touchdown.

Only once did they move the ball inside the 20-yard line, which came after a Kevin Fogg interception.

“If you want to look at the last three games and say that we haven’t been as productive, it’s all situational,” said Harris.

“I feel that we’re still doing good things. We’re not playing horribly, but we’re not playing to our calibre in the same breath. We’ve got to step up, rise to the occasion and get our play back on track.”

To get there, the Bombers will likely rely on Harris, considered by many to be the front-runner to be named the league’s most outstanding Canadian. But even he has wrestled with consistency of late, rushing for just 110 yards in the last three games.

The Bombers will continue to lean on quarterback Matt Nichols, who has also been far from the player he was a month ago, when many were arguing he was the consensus vote for most outstanding player. Nichols hasn’t eclipsed 300 passing yards in a game since he tossed for 319 and two touchdowns in a 29-9 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sept. 22.

On Saturday, Nichols will once again be without his favourite target in Adams, who injured his shoulder on the first offensive series in a 30-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at home Oct. 6 and is expected to miss at least another two weeks. The Bombers got a major boost with the return of Weston Dressler last week in Toronto, as the 10-year veteran paced all receivers with eight catches for 129 yards in a loss to the Argonauts.

“He does so many things for us in our offence,” Harris said of Dressler. “The biggest thing is just getting everyone on the same page, so you’re just out there playing high-calibre, high-paced, smashed-mouth football and we’ve got to get back to that.”

Finding that rhythm again has been a slow process. What Dressler was able to do in his return was promising, but it overshadowed what few other options the Bombers have at receiver.

Chris Givens, who joined the team five weeks ago and has 60 games of NFL experience on his resumé, looked good in his CFL debut against Toronto, reeling in four catches for 41 yards. He also looked impressive retrieving kickoffs, averaging 22 yards on five returns. But he only got that chance because receiver Ryan Lankford had regressed and warranted a replacement.

Matt Coates is expected to replace Julian Feoli-Gudino, who hasn’t scored a touchdown in six games. Clarence Denmark, a former touchdown machine, has just one score in his last five. To make matters worse for the offence, it could also be without two starting offensive linemen in Jermarcus Hardrick (lower body) and Travis Bond (upper body), both of whom have yet to be cleared to play by team doctors.

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“The more that’s going on the harder it is to get a grasp on everything,” said Dressler. “But that’s part of football and it’s what every team goes through. You go through the injuries and changes and you’ve got to adapt and that’s what we’re doing.”

To speed up that process, Dressler said every receiver met after Wednesday’s practice to go over the workout on tape. The hope is that communication off the field will translate onto it.

“It was just us in there watching practice, getting an extra view of it together,” said Dressler. “That stuff goes a long way. Everyone has his own routine but we’re trying to mould those together a little bit to help everyone else.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.