Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C1 Savouring Pan Am glory / C4 SPORTS SPORTS EDITOR: STEVE LYONS 204- 697- 7285 I SPORTS@ FREEPRESS. MB. CA I WINNIPEGFREEPRESS. COM I CLASSIFIEDS C6 TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015 C 1 MAYBE he's been assembled differently than the rest of us. Or maybe he's just the living embodiment of the word " tough." Whatever the reason, what has become readily apparent in Drew Willy's one- plus seasons as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' starting quarterback is his ability to recover from hellacious beatings quicker than you'd think possible. When he goes down, he seldom stays down. On the rare occasions he does stay down and has to leave a game, Willy is Phoenix- like in his quick recoveries. Willy's latest Lazarus impression comes this week as he attempts - in a very short week of practise - to return from a savage hit he took Saturday in a 32- 3 Bombers' loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. Willy's knee appeared to buckle at a sickening angle as he got simultaneously hit high and low by two Esks defenders. He lay crumpled on the field for several minutes and watched the rest of the game from the trainer's table, a pack of ice wrapped around his right knee. He limped badly when he left the field at the end of the game and it seemed the best Bombers Nation could hope for was he wouldn't be out of action long. It turns out he might not miss any action at all and could be back on the practice field as early as today in preparation to play Thursday night at Investors Group Field when the Bombers face the B. C. Lions. " He's seen a doctor, had the tests done and we're hopeful he'll get a chance to play," Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea told a news conference Monday afternoon. " We'll know more ( Tuesday). We'll see if he can practise and we'll go from there." O'Shea was asked what he needs to see out of Willy this week to give him the starting nod Thursday night. " Just good- enough mobility to make sure he's safe and can execute the offence," said O'Shea. While that might seem an optimistic prognosis from a head coach who desperately needs his starter back on the field, it bears noting Willy had a similarly quick recovery earlier this season. A brutal hit to the head in Week 2 knocked him out of a 52- 26 loss to the Hamilton Tiger- Cats, but Willy never didn't miss a practice the following week and was back at the controls in Week 3 in a 25- 23 win over the Montreal Alouettes. O'Shea was asked what it is about Willy that seems to allow him to recover more quickly from big hits than most players. " I think it's tough( ness)," replied O'Shea. " Everyone has their own pain threshold, their own elasticity... I just know when he looks me in the eye and says, ' You know what? I think I'll be all right,' that's good enough for me." If Willy can't go Thursday, O'Shea said Brian Brohm will start. Brohm has been woefully ineffective in his two relief appearances this season - he's thrown four interceptions in two games and is still looking for his first touchdown pass - and fans continue to clamour for O'Shea to give third- string QB Robert Marve a chance. But O'Shea continues to insist Marve is hurt - the club has kept the origin and nature of Marve's injury murky, even while continuing to dress him for games - and O'Shea says there is nothing Marve could show in practice this week to earn the starting job ahead of Brohm if Willy can't go. " Robert Marve hasn't been able to take reps for the last two weeks," said O'Shea. paul. wiecek@ freepress. mb. ca Twitter: @ PaulWiecek By Paul Wiecek Willy is either made of metal, or he's tougher than a $ 2 steak I T would have been patronizing had Mike O'Shea been all warm and cuddly with the media Monday. Worse, it would have screamed of desperation. For O'Shea to have stooped to pandering would suggest a state of great fragility. No, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' head coach was his usual defiant self, with a hint of condescension. " That seems like a strange question," said O'Shea, when asked what was wrong with his 2- 3 team and what could be done to rectify it. " I would never use that term. Wrong? There are things on a daily basis that you install and you coach. There's film that you watch. There's players that need correction, on a daily basis, on every team, in any sport. So that's the process that football teams go through." OK, coach. Fair enough. How about we try it this way - what is preventing your team from achieving winning results at this juncture? " This last game, Drew ( Willy) goes out, we give up a big return right away. They score, we're down 15 points until 10 minutes to go in the fourth and then we take some penalties, we give up a big run, we give up a turnover, interception down in the red zone there, so their quarterback, their third- string quarterback comes in and he's got a short field to rack up some points," said O'Shea. " Certainly not the way we want to play the game, and I don't know that we played for 60 minutes. We played pretty tight up until midway through the third, still winnable. Still a contest we can come back in part way into the fourth, and then from there we just didn't execute. The effort was there, but the lack of execution, the penalties, the turnovers, adds up to the loss." And what causes this, coach? " Lack of focus, right there. Lack of focus. They need to pay attention to the details on each and every play and make sure they execute them. It's pretty simple," he said before being asked how one can coach focus. " Remind them on a daily basis, on a play- by- play basis in practice and meetings. We talked about ( focus) today." Notice the constant use of the word " we." No calling out individuals. If one is waiting for O'Shea to turn on his team, well, they'd better have packed a lunch. O'Shea doesn't shy away from the media and he's available on a near daily basis during the summer. He may not say what you want to hear or in a manner in which you want the message presented. But ask him a question and he'll give you an answer. When he doesn't want to reveal something or refuses to put the blame on his own people, he's perfectly willing to stick to a script - even when it borders on the ridiculous. When the defensive line sucked last season and everyone in Canada knew the Bombers couldn't stop the run, O'Shea refused to pile on and repeatedly stated he wasn't concerned with his run defence. Even when it was clearly costing his team games. He would have had to be a fool not to recognize it. But O'Shea determined no good could come from him publicly pointing a finger. For some, it was both frustrating and galling. But for the players and coaches he was protecting, it built loyalty. O'Shea holds himself accountable to the people in his organization. To his bosses, Wade Miller and Kyle Walters, to his fellow coaches and to his players. It's not that O'Shea doesn't appreciate the fans. He'd have to be a stump after 20- plus years in the CFL not to understand the people who buy the tickets in this league are its lifeblood. But O'Shea believes the ticket- buying public, and in this case the fans of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will be best served by him providing a winning team. And O'Shea has determined, from his career as a player and as an assistant coach and now head coach, the most beneficial public relations policy is to protect his coaches and his players. Remember Jets head coach Paul Maurice and his " I could make you f--- ing cry in that room," quote regarding accountability within the Jets organization? O'Shea is cut from the same cloth. Some of what he says and does just isn't any of our business, and don't expect him to apologize for that. Word around the Bombers complex is when the coach is mad, he's scary. He has complete control of his ship and when he's on deck, everyone is at attention. O'Shea just prefers to treat his players like men and not embarrass them or point out their faults in front of a camera or a notepad. Probably the way you would like your boss to treat you, I'm guessing. All this is great. Except it means squat when a team is losing. And O'Shea's teams have lost more than they've won here in Winnipeg. So the questions become more pointed and at some juncture, fans refuse to accept what is being served. They go from wanting answers to wanting blood. If the Walters and O'Shea regime is going to distinguish itself from the past, sound and winning football needs to become the norm. Wins are the best answer of all. Just ask Bill Belichick. Another thing one hears from players and staffers around the Bombers is people love playing and working for O'Shea. They should show it. The coach has been willing to stand up for his players. Even when they haven't deserved his protection. It's about time they start to deliver for him. gary. lawless@ freepress. mb. ca Twitter: @ garylawless MORE BOMBERS C 2 GARY LAWLESS IT'S PAYBACK TIME Blue coach O'Shea is fiercely protective of his players... when will they start delivering for him? WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS Blue Bombers quarterback Drew Willy is like an inexpensive but reliable watch: he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. C_ 01_ Jul- 28- 15_ FP_ 01. indd C1 7/ 27/ 15 10: 12: 35 PM ;