Blue refreshed, ready after bye

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This article was published 24/10/2016 (2737 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In recent years, late-season bye weeks for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have done nothing more than delay the inevitable.

Not since 2011 have the Bombers tasted post-season football, meaning the off week was just a final bump in the road of another rocky season. 

But 2016 is different for this iteration sporting the blue and gold threads. Not only are the Bombers playoff-bound, at 10-6, they’re aim is set squarely on hosting a playoff game in November. They currently sit in second place in the West Division, the perfect spot to do so.

Do the math, and the result is a change of tune about the Week-18 bye that just past. While eight other teams went to war this past weekend, the Blue Bombers were resting. It couldn’t have come at a better time, according to the team.

“It gives guys a bit of rest when they need it but enough time to get those couple of games (against the Ottawa Redblacks) in. I think it’s perfect timing,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.

Winnipeg’s final home game Saturday isn’t crucial in terms of making the playoffs, but a win coupled with a B.C. Lions loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders would mean the Bombers finish second and would welcome one of the Lions or the Edmonton Eskimos to Investors Group Field for the West semifinal Nov. 13.

“Just the idea that you have more to play for when you come back is comforting,” said veteran defensive back Chris Randle. “You’re definitely more in tune to what is going on. You’re more cautious of your workout regimen and you’re more excited about what you’re doing when you come back. That anticipation of more meaningful football, it’s a good feeling to have while you’re relaxing on the bye week.”

Randle and his wife visited Seattle for an NFL game and took in some other sporting events following Winnipeg’s 35-32 win in B.C. in Week 17.

Randle, never a quiet one during practice —even in mid-season when the grind gets gruelling — said there was a marked difference in Tuesday’s on-field session.

“I’d say, normally, we’d usually start slow after a few days gone or after a week off trying to get into our groove,” Randle said. “But I’d say that today the energy level was high. That feeling, knowing what is at stake, everyone was focused and in tune to the little details.

‘We look fresher this Day 1 than the previous Day 1s. They got the rest they need… They did enough to be able to allow them to come back and practise hard’– Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea 

“For us, playing our last two games at a high level, two very physical games, I think we were going to accept this bye week at the time it came. It was emotionally and physically draining. We needed that break to go away and re-calibrate a little bit and come back to play even harder football.”

O’Shea knows the value of a bye week and what it brings for the players and coaches.

One might surmise the third-year coach would like to keep a vice-like grip on his players while they’re away, making sure all the good work put in doesn’t evaporate, but… 

“They need to do what they need to do, but they also understand where the team is at,” O’Shea said. “Judging by the pace of practice today, I think they all did a bit of work during the bye week. Enough to make sure they can come back and practise at this high a level. I don’t think there was a difference… actually, there probably is a difference. We look fresher this Day 1 than the previous Day 1s. They got the rest they need, it looks like. They did enough to be able to allow them to come back and practise hard.”

O’Shea gave his coaches a couple of days off as well.

“They needed it, too,” he said. “They’re working pretty hard all of the time. They do a great job, the coaching staff. They don’t get mentioned enough. They work their tails off, night and day. This was a well-timed break for them, too.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @scottbilleck