Here’s what O’Shea has to say

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This article was published 22/06/2015 (3757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE day after making his final cuts and setting the roster he will take into Week 1 of the regular season, the questions came fast and furious.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea met the media for the first time since unveiling the team he will take into Regina Saturday.

Here’s what an unusually talkative O’Shea had to say Sunday about a wide range of issues:

• On whether there are unique coaching challenges posed by heading into a new season with a team that will have 10 new starters: “I don’t see that on our roster being an issue. I really don’t. We’ve got some good continuity where it counts… We talk about new players: (10-year CFLer) Dominic Picard is a new player for us. But would you want anybody else? That’s the way I look at it. (Ex-NFLer) Jamaal Westerman is a new player for us.”
• On the challenges posed by a tough early season schedule with such a revamped team: “Sure, the first part of the schedule is a good challenge. And we need to come out of the gates hot to win those games early.”
• On how he feels about raw rookie Sukh Chungh starting for the Bombers at right guard: “Good. Let’s go. He showed us a lot before we drafted him at the combine. He showed us a lot in practice. Does he have some growing to do? Absolutely. Is he prepared to do it? Absolutely. He’s tough-minded as well as being tough out on the field physically.”
• On cutting offensive lineman Marc Dile: “We’re pretty happy with the three import tackles we have. Marc was in a situation where the competition kept going and he didn’t.”
• On whether import receiver Justin Veltung will be his returner in Week 1 after Carlos Anderson, who had been doing the job, was cut Saturday after sustaining an ACL injury in Friday’s pre-season game: “Yes, that’s how it looks right now.”
• On when the club’s first choice this season at returner — Troy Stoudemire, who broke his hand during training camp — can be expected back: “He’s still a few weeks away for sure.”
• On why former University of Manitoba Bisons QB Jordan Yantz, who was cut Saturday, never got any snaps in the pre-season: “It was the right thing for the team. But I’m disappointed for Jordan — I really am.”
• On why Brian Brohm — and not Robert Marve, who many fans would prefer — will start the season as the No. 2 quarterback: “The fans see great excitement (in Marve) and moving the ball, especially with his feet. We’d like (Marve) to wait the extra second and make that throw if it’s open. And he sees that himself… He still has some growth.”
• On where receiver Kris Bastien fits into the team’s plans after a strong training camp: “He’s a good player — he’s going to get a shot at some point… There’s a lot to like about Kris Bastien.”
• On what impact Friday night’s game — a 26-15 pre-season loss to Hamilton at Investors Group Field — had on who stayed and who was cut on Saturday: “It certainly confirmed a bunch of things we were thinking… It reflected our first hunch on a number of occasions and a number of issues.”
• On why the team decided to cut receiver Jordan Reaves: “He had tremendous progression… but at the end it wasn’t enough with the group of Canadian receivers we had here. We have some very talented receivers in that spot he was battling (for) and he certainly made it into a competition.”
• On who will start at weak-side linebacker — Khalil Bass or Tony Burnett: “Khalil Bass looks pretty good and so does Tony. And that’s one of those things — you keep competition in house and you make sure you’ve got yourself covered with people you like who can go out and do the job.”
• On whether he might start the season with two import running backs on the game-day roster — Paris Cotton and Cameron Marshall: “Yeah, that could be an option.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek