‘Terrible’: LaPolice on his performance

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This article was published 05/08/2019 (2226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a simple question, one that gets asked by reporters in professional sports nearly every single day: how would you evaluate your performance?

Most often, it’s met with a straight answer. On Monday, as the Bombers wrapped up Day 2 of preparations ahead of Thursday’s home game against the Calgary Stampeders, offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice seemed taken aback when asked to assess his role in a 28-27 loss to the now 1-6 Toronto Argonauts.

“Evaluate it?” he asked, after a slight chuckle.

“Yeah, evaluate your job,” the Free Press reporter responded. “We ask players all the time to evaluate their performance. You’re a coach, same thing…”

After the brief exchange, he eventually answered.

“Terrible, we lost. When you lose a game, I try to blame myself for everything that happens and I hope that players do the same,” LaPolice said.

While LaPolice is certainly regarded as one of the best offensive minds in the CFL — he has led the Bombers to the highest scoring offence the two previous years — there were two particular issues with his play calling against the Argonauts. In a season that has seen quarterback Matt Nichols air the ball out for a number of long touchdowns, Winnipeg appeared to abandon the deep ball in Toronto.

“It always depends. Certain situations you’ll have opportunities to throw it deep, and sometimes you will and sometimes you won’t. We had some deep things called where we weren’t in the right spots and you can’t push the ball down field with two people in the same spot as the DB,” LaPolice said. “We had a couple of them dialled up, one of them the protection broke down so part of the process is when you get those opportunities you can’t be in the wrong spot, you can’t drop the protection. And then when you don’t have a lot of plays, you aren’t on the field.”

The other issue surrounded the usage of running back Andrew Harris, who was having a stellar outing — he finished with a season-high 152 rushing yards on 15 carries — before hardly being used down the stretch. LaPolice defended complaints that he shut out Harris, noting there just weren’t enough plays to go around, not with how often the offence was stalling on drives.

“With 12:50 left in the game, Andrew had three straight carries, then two passes and we score. We only had four more plays after that drive, so we had a two-and-out, and then the next series Andrew got it on first down and we were second-and-long. If we’re on the field, sure, Andrew is going to touch the ball but we only had four more plays,” he said. “Us, as players, got to stay on the field, offensively, so we get more plays and then there are more touches. When you only have four more plays in the last 12 minutes, like we got to stay on the field and then everybody touches the ball.”

INJURY UPDATES: Left guard Patrick Neufeld has yet to practise this season and you have to wonder just how long it will take before he’s game ready. He had a standout season in 2018 and his play and leadership is certainly missed on the offensive line, even if he’s still around to mentor the young guys.

“Paddy just sticks with the treatment protocol he’s on and I’m sure he’ll be ready shortly. But shortly, what does that mean? The exact time, I’m not sure,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “When he’s able to get on the field and practise, he’s still going to need a little bit of time to get back up to speed.”

Jackson Jeffcoat has also been absent at practice, and O’Shea said the team is still waiting on a determination of just how long he’ll be sidelined. “Hopefully it’s shorter than longer, obviously,” O’Shea said.

Brandon Alexander, who injured himself in practice last week, will be a couple more weeks away. Receiver Darvin Adams remains week-to-week.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @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.

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