It’s still Nichols’ team to lead

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This article was published 16/09/2018 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’Shea didn’t need the entire bye week to make a decision on who would start at quarterback when his Winnipeg Blue Bombers resume regular-season play Friday at home against the Montreal Alouettes.

In fact, the Bombers’ head coach said he didn’t need much time at all in his choice to give the ball to Matt Nichols, despite his team’s recent struggles, including the unsteady play of his No. 1 quarterback.

“Matt’s the starter,” O’Shea told reporters after Monday’s practice, the first workout for the team since returning from their second of three weeklong breaks this season.

“The reality of it is until I get a chance to speak to the players individually, I’m not going to say anything about the process or the decision-making or when it’s made. In my mind, I knew right away (after the game) what we were doing, but until we finished the bye week and you get face to face with these guys, it’s not possible.”

Asked following a 32-27 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Banjo Bowl on Sept. 8 if he was prepared to name Nichols his starter for the next game, O’Shea said he and the team needed to “take a breath.” Not only was it the Bombers’ fourth straight loss — they now sit last in the West with a record of 5-7 — but Nichols was fresh off another tough outing, including getting pulled for the first time this season.

After throwing three interceptions — two more were negated by penalties — in the first two quarters against the Roughriders, Nichols was replaced by backup Chris Streveler for the second half. Streveler, a 23-year-old rookie who started the first three games of the regular season while Nichols recovered from a knee injury, didn’t fare much better, ending his day with two picks. Perhaps most important, though, at least when it came to making a potential change, was Streveler couldn’t mount a comeback despite the Bombers trailing 20-17 at the break.

O’Shea remained consistent in his defence of Nichols. He listed off his entire body of work with the Bombers, which includes 27 wins dating back to the 2015 season, and was steadfast in his belief No. 15 gives Winnipeg the best shot at winning.

Despite what has clearly been an off year for Nichols — he’s averaging almost a half a touchdown less per game, has four more interceptions this year than last year despite playing eight fewer games and his QB rating has dropped nearly 25 points to 78.9 from a lead-leading 103.8 in 2017 — O’Shea still believes his quarterback is playing “extremely well.”

“He’s our leader and he’s going to lead our team to a victory,” O’Shea said. “If you don’t like what’s happened the last couple weeks or whatever, you just know that that’s not what his body of work shows is the norm. The norm is excellent football and leadership and competitiveness and drive. So, that’s what we expect and I’m sure that’s what we’re going to get.”

Nichols, a 31-year old product of Redding, Calif., was working with the No. 1 offence during practice Monday. Nichols continues to wear a brace on his injured right knee, and also has the support of his teammates.

“That’s his job, that’s where he’s supposed to be,” Bombers running back Andrew Harris said when asked about Nichols running the first-team offence on Monday. “We’re right behind him. I felt like he attacked as he does and that’s with focus and being a leader. He did a great job today.”

For his part, Nichols insists he’s returned refreshed from the bye week, which he spent most of with his wife and two daughters touring local attractions. Having lost four straight games has certainly added to an already pressure-filled year, but he insists the internal pressure he puts on himself is what’s driving him to be better.

“Obviously, those were a couple of tough games for me personally, but you’ve got to take a little bit of a break away from the game, step away for a couple of days, and I think that’s been awesome for me,” Nichols said. “At some point, everyone is going to play a rough game or two in a row. It’s always about how you handle it. For me, I’ve always handled everything the same way: just tunnel vision moving forward and that’s the approach I’m taking. I know I’m a lot better than what I’ve played the last couple of weeks.”

O’Shea has never been one to think like fans or the media, so the idea Nichols would have some a short leash appeared foreign to the head coach.

“When a guy is your starter, you’re not talking about the endgame, what it looks like when you pull him. You arrive at that, right?” he said. “So, I don’t ever talk about leashes and I would never include that in a conversation. That’s not something we talk about or think about, really.”

There is some sense to starting Streveler over Nichols, even if there is a major gap when it comes to their experience at the pro level. Streveler has started just three games in the CFL, while Nichols has led Winnipeg to 27 wins since being acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015.

While it can’t be understated what Nichols has done for the Bombers — including guiding Winnipeg to back-to-back winning records of 11-7 and 12-6 in 2016 and 2017, respectively — it’s clear everyone expects more from their leader. That includes Nichols.

“As long as, for me personally, I go out and play better and help this team win, we can still be in a great position at the end of the season,” he said. “With six games here left and so much opportunity in front of us to go on a little run here, when you can just step away from it for a minute and understand that we’re still in a great position, you can really think through everything and make sure you’re not making the same mistakes.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton