Medlock ready to move past rough night in Edmonton

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This article was published 03/10/2017 (2982 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While his jubilant Winnipeg Blue Bombers teammates celebrated a huge victory in the locker room after the game in Edmonton on Saturday night, a sombre Justin Medlock had little to say about his nightmarish performance against the Eskimos.

Medlock, widely regarded as the CFL’s best and most dependable kicker, missed field goal attempts from 54, 40 and 32 yards during the first half of Winnipeg’s 28-19 win. In the fourth quarter, he added to his misery when he clanked a conversion attempt off an upright following a touchdown by wide receiver Darvin Adams. It was Medlock’s first conversion miss since the league moved those attempts back to the 32-yard line.

On Tuesday, he still seemed bothered by the misses but spoke more expansively on the topic.

“I didn’t even watch it,” Medlock said following practice at Investors Group Field. “It was one of those things. I think I felt worse about it afterwards than during it. You take a bit of reflection and think to yourself, ‘Man, 25 minutes of game, that dictated a lot of your season.’ From a future standpoint, it kinda sucks and you think about that. After about 24 hours, you kinda say, ‘Hey, forget it. You play the best you can for the next eight games and get on a roll.’ Then you move on.”

Medlock was named the league’s most outstanding special teams player in 2016 when he hit on 60 of 68 field-goal attempts (88.2 per cent). In 2017, those numbers have dipped to 39 of 50 (78 per cent).

“I get paid to make those kicks and I think I’ve done a great job trying to help this team win, so I think that’s why they brought me in here — to make those kicks so we can win some of those games, those tight games,” Medlock said. “You’re going to have bad games and good games.”

 

Walking wounded

Tailback Andrew Harris, wide receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino and linebacker Mo Leggett all practised Tuesday after leaving Saturday’s game with various injuries.

Leggett left the game with an upper-body ailment and did not return to action.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, I just have that mind frame that if my arm’s not off or my leg, I’m ready to go at all times,” Leggett said. “We’re just taking it day by day right now.”

He dismissed the idea of taking a week off just to preserve himself for the end of the season.

“When you’re in season, who’s really fully healthy?” Leggett said. “It’s just a day-by-day process.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea said veteran slotback Weston Dressler will still not be ready to play.

He would not say if he expected Harris, Feoli-Gudino and Leggett to suit up against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday (7:30 p.m., TSN, CJOB 680).

“We’ll know more, like we usually do,” O’Shea said. “We check with them the day after (practice)… Three pretty tough guys, right?”

 

Award winner

Winnipeg cornerback Chris Randle was named one of the league’s top performers of the week after his stellar performance in Edmonton. 

Randle recorded five tackles and provided a key 37-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter to snuff out a possible game-winning drive by the Eskimos. 

The veteran defender turned his attention to the 3-10 Tiger-Cats, who have a new head coach and a revamped lineup since the teams last met in Hamilton on Aug. 12. 

“Oh, a big difference, right, from the last time we played ’em?” Randle said. “Just the co-ordinator’s made a difference in how they run things offensively (and) schematically. Just the splits in the alignments of the receivers, I can tell the difference and some of the playmakers are different now, too.”

The Blue Bombers sit comfortably at second place in the West Division at 10-3, and need just two more wins in the last five regular-season games to clinch a home playoff game.

 

Beefing up security

In light of the violent attack on a police officer outside Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and the subsequent manhunt and arrest that followed, it was not surprising to see extra security measures being taken at Investors Group Field on Tuesday morning.

Workers had begun the task of installing 40 large concrete barriers near the entrances to the stadium on Bison Drive. The blocks, each weighing 2,200 pounds, should help to prevent unauthorized vehicles from accessing the sidewalks outside IGF.

“We had no idea until, obviously, after the game. It was kind of all over social media and everything,” Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols said about the events in Edmonton.

“Having lived in that city for the better part of five, six years, it was something that was pretty tragic to see. It’s scary that those things can happen anywhere.”

 

Quotable

Does starting cornerback Brandon Alexander finally feel like a veteran after playing 10 games in his rookie season? 

“I won’t necessarily say vet, but I will say I got more accustomed to the game,” said Alexander, who has 33 defensive tackles, four special-teams tackles and two forced fumbles. “And being here longer, there’s no excuses about me being a rookie.”

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @sawa14