Nichols turns crowd’s jeers into cheers

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This article was published 30/10/2018 (2558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It wasn’t that long ago Matt Nichols was feeling the pain of fans booing his play at Investors Group Field. In fact, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ starting quarterback felt so down about the jeers he was received during a 44-21 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks that he shot back at those delivering them with a heartfelt confession of how it hurt to hear them.

Fast-forward to Oct. 26 at IGF and it was all cheers as Nichols helped clinch a playoff berth with a 29-21 win over the Calgary Stampeders.

Nichols had his best game of the 2018 season Friday, completing 24 of 33 passes (73 per cent) for 358 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first time this season he eclipsed the 300-yard mark, and although Nichols has always downplayed the importance of stats, he did say he hasn’t felt more confident than he does now.

“In the realm of what’s on the line and all those things, it’s probably one of my best games I’ve ever played,” Nichols, who was named a CFL top performer for his performance, said following Tuesday’s closed practice. “I feel like I’ve been playing some pretty good football the last month and a half or so. I owe it to (my) teammates to keep working hard every single day and that I continue my play to help this team and get to where we want to be.

“I can’t think of a time where I felt better about where my team was at. Not only how we’re playing, but health-wise, as a team, at this point of the season is as good as I’ve seen. All that’s great, but we’ve still got to go out and perform a few more times.”

The Bombers head to Edmonton on Saturday to play the Eskimos in a meaningless game for both clubs.

Winnipeg has wrapped up third place and will travel to play either the Saskatchewan Roughriders or Calgary Stampeders in the West semifinal on Nov. 11. Edmonton, this year’s Grey Cup hosts, have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Winnipeg has won five in a row and is the hottest team heading into post-season. But for the Bombers to end a Grey Cup drought that is now at 27 years, it will need stellar play from their quarterback.

“You could just tell in his confidence during the game and how he’s playing, he was definitely on point,” running back Andrew Harris said of Nichols’ game against the Stampeders. “He made some big throws down the field. He was on point with his hot reads again. Absolutely psyched for the guy to have that kind of game, and at this junction of the season. It’s big for him, and we’ve just got to lean on him and keep this momentum going and ride it off to the playoffs.”

JOHNSON RELEASED: he was one of the Bombers’ most feared linemen at the beginning of the season, but defensive tackle Cory Johnson had fallen out of favour over the last month, much of which was spent on the practice roster, and on Tuesday, he was released.

“He was on the practice roster and he wanted to go home,” head coach Mike O’Shea said. “He wasn’t playing and he wanted to make more money and he said he could do that at home a little bit better.”

While O’Shea glossed over the decision, he did admit he was disappointed by the result.

“I don’t think anything is unusual anymore. You have those conversations and you listen to the player and explain your point of view, try and show him some different options and let him make a decision,” O’Shea said. “We’re so focused on what we’re doing right now that any disappointment is… sure it’s disappointing, but short-lived. You’ve got to move on very quickly.”

Johnson had eight defensive tackles in nine games.

DRESSLER JOINS 10,000 CLUB: Weston Dressler finished Friday’s game with four catches for 53 yards, which was enough to put him in a rare club of CFL receivers.

The 11-year veteran has 10,026 receiving yards, making him just the 17th player in league history to hit the 10,000-yard mark.

“It’s something pretty special. It’s not something you think about when you’re coming in as a rookie or even as a four- or five-year guy,” Dressler said.

“It’s just something that kind of happens throughout the years as a result of everything you’ve done on a yearly basis, on a daily basis to play this game.

“Pretty proud of it and obviously it will be something when I’m done to look back on a little bit more. Right now, we’ve got a few more important things in front of us.”

Dressler has also had at least one catch in 125 straight games. That streak is sixth all-time in the CFL.

 

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton