Defence fired up to play harder

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This article was published 09/09/2016 (3673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By their own admission, members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defence didn’t care much for their Labour Day Classic performance Sunday in Regina.

Linebackers Khalil Bass, Maurice Leggett and defensive back Kevin Fogg used adjectives such as “bored,” “unfocused” and “relaxed” in their reviews before they return the favour and welcome the Saskatchewan Roughriders to Investors Group Field for today’s Banjo Bowl.

The boys in blue pulled a rabbit out of their hat last week with their first win in 11 years at Mosaic Stadium, a nail-biting 28-25 drama that came down to Justin Medlock’s last-second field goal.

The defenders agree it was a much closer game than it needed to be, courtesy of several big plays launched from the arm of Riders pivot Darian Durant, who finished a yard shy of 400 in the passing game.

“We gave up a lot of big plays,” Bass said Friday.

“It was just some miscommunication on our part. A couple guys were not on the same page… we’ve got those things fixed over the last week, and it will be a much better product out there.”

The linebacking trio wasn’t copping to being complacent against the 1-9 Riders, but…

“Saskatchewan is a lot better than their record indicates,” said Legget.

“They came in with a great game plan, and we just got too relaxed. We had a lot of mistakes and let a lot of points on the board. We can’t do that.

“We just can’t be a roller-coaster team, which we were during the course of the game. When it was crunch time, we had to end up performing, but we just can’t let it get close. It was up and down.”

Fogg said last week’s letdown is in the rear-view mirror, and that the only tinkering needed in the secondary is tightening the screws that hold the ship together.

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“It’s how we prepare mentally,” he said.

“We’ve seen them physically. The biggest thing for us — and it’s going to be loud when we’re on the field — is just us being able to communicate with each other.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.