No panic this early in season for winless club

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This article was published 24/06/2024 (484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have never won a Grey Cup after starting 0-3.

That stat doesn’t bode well for this year’s winless group, but veteran linebacker Adam Bighill isn’t losing any sleep over it.

“That doesn’t bother me at all. It’s such a long season, man,” said Bighill after Monday’s practice.

“I’ve seen Toronto win multiple Grey Cups coming in as barely a 50-50 team. It’s about getting to the playoffs and being the best team in November, not the best team in June. If you look at the last couple years, maybe we were the best team in June, July, August and we didn’t get it done.

“So, (there’s) urgency, but nothing to panic about. It’s a long, long season and we got a lot of good football players.”

If anyone knows about it being too early to panic, it’s Bighill. He was with the B.C. Lions in 2011 when they opened the year 0-5 before rallying late to win the CFL crown.

He’s not going out of his way to share that story with his young teammates, though.

No team has started out 0-3 or worse and won it all since.

“No, no, no, we’re not there, yet, by any means. We’ve improved, we’re getting better. We’re getting close, a couple plays away from winning games. We’re very close to being the team we are wanting to be,” said the 35-year-old. “We all have that sense of urgency, I can feel it. There’s no special (speech) that needs to happen right now, other than the reminder that every game you have to go out and take it. “

Head coach Mike O’Shea was asked if he feels his troops are headed in the right direction despite their poor start.

The Blue and Gold will look to get back on track this Saturday at McMahon Stadium when they take on the Calgary Stampeders.

“You can’t argue with where we’re at. That’s just the facts, right? But you certainly can’t argue with the mentality, the stick-to-it-ive-ness. Our guys don’t like it, but they’re not uncomfortable here. They’re going to continue to work. They’re going to look at the minutiae of it all, how do they improve. Their process is really good. We also had a chance at the end of two of those games to win them,” said O’Shea.

“We’re not looking for those sliver linings. We are where we’re at. But I’m also quite comfortable being in that room watching the guys work, watching them work on the field and understanding the collective we have and their mindset is really good, strong.”

NICHOLS BACK AT WORK

Star halfback Deatrick Nichols was a full participant at Monday’s practice.

Nichols missed last week’s 26-24 loss to the B.C. Lions where the Bombers gave up 398 passing yards.

O’SHEA ROOTING FOR PANTHERS

Mike O’Shea never misses an opportunity to talk about being a proud Canadian.

But when it came to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he was rooting for his old pal Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers to take down the Edmonton Oilers.

The same year the Bombers hired O’Shea, the Winnipeg Jets hired Paul Maurice. While they no longer stay in touch, the two coaches got to know each other during their eight years working in the same city.

Maurice left the Jets midway through the 2021-22 campaign before taking his place behind Florida’s bench.

“I’d like to see Paul win one,” said O’Shea.

“For young coaches, he’s a good guy, no matter what your sport, he’s a good guy to listen to. He does well with the media, and obviously he’s got a ton of longevity.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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