Lapo going back to Jyles

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/10/2010 (5808 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A head coach has a lot of tough decisions to make daily — the blue windbreaker or the gold? Pasta or the cold-cut combo? — but none was more of a slam dunk than the call Paul LaPolice made official Tuesday.

Only after reviewing the game film, of course.

And so in one of those moves that will hardly rock Bomber Nation, the head coach confirmed that Steven Jyles — surprise, surprise — will take the first snap from centre Sunday in Montreal against the Alouettes.

Good decision, that, because if the boss had opted to stick with rookie Alex Brink again he would not only have had an angry mob with pointy sticks and torches gathering outside the offices on Maroons Road, he would have likely had a mutiny from within as well.

“Steven performed well and put us in position to win the football game and that is one of the things we’ve been asking from him — to finish a game for us,” said LaPolice.

“He said (the benching) helped him clear his head a bit to understand what he has to do to be a guy in this league. He and I had a great conversation today. We talked about things he’s got to do to stand up against everybody else in the league and be the guy.”

Jyles’ handiwork was obvious in Monday’s improbable 47-35 overtime victory over the B.C. Lions — he entered the game with the Bombers trailing 25-11 and threw for two touchdowns as part of the rally — but it was as much how he handled the demotion in the days leading up to the game that speak volumes of his development.

He was no doubt crushed, angry and confused at being benched in favour of an untested Alex Brink. But he didn’t sulk — at least not publicly — and was active in game-planning sessions before and during the contest.

“He’s a great pro, that’s the first thing,” LaPolice said. “We talked earlier in the week about certain scenarios and situations and I told him to be ready. The day before the game we were doing a game-plan session and he was like, ‘How about these two plays?’

“Some guys I’ve been around, they just aren’t team players. He came up with three really good ideas and then all of a sudden Alex came up with a great idea off of what Steven had said.

“A quarterback’s job is to make everyone believes they can get it done no matter what the adversity. And when you have wins like that, that starts to build that mystique or reputation. When I was here in 2002 with Khari Jones it didn’t really matter what was going on, they all had a belief ‘He’ll bring us back.’

Jyles improved his QB-efficiency rating in the victory — he ranks second to Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo (109.2) at 102.7 — and has an impressive 17:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Most importantly, he made plays when it mattered as the Bombers won after trailing after the third quarter for the first time in over two years.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

The last time the Bombers won a game they trailed heading in the fourth quarter was a 24-23 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Oct. 26, 2008. Since then the club was 0-16 in the same scenario they faced Monday, trailing the Lions 32-11 after three.

Brink, meanwhile, struggled in his first pro start and completed just four of 18 passes for 61 yards amid a chorus of boos and ‘We want Jyles!’ chants from the home crowd.

“The thing he has to come back with is there is a reason we kept him here when we had other guys, there’s a reason we released other people, there’s a reason that right now, he’s our No. 2,” said LaPolice. “He’ll handle it. He’s a good pro and all that stuff.

“The big thing he’s got to come back from is when people are frustrated there’s the negativity. He’ll understand that and I’m sure our fans will understand that, too.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca