O-line must be better at protecting QB, coach says
‘We pride ourselves on protecting the QB and we didn’t do a good enough job’
Henry Burris struggled against the Montreal Alouettes, so much so that the Ottawa Redblacks decided to reinsert Trevor Harris as starting quarterback for Thursday’s home game against the B.C. Lions even though he hadn’t played in more than a month.
That stinging 43-19 defeat against the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night wasn’t a one-man responsibility, though. There was plenty of blame to go around for the entire 44-man roster.
The defence allowed six touchdowns and 43 points to an Alouettes squad that had averaged less than 20 points previously. Special-teams units conceded 198 yards in punt and kickoff returns.
Then there was this: Alouettes defenders sacked Burris and other Redblacks quarterbacks seven times in 38 dropbacks. That 18.4 per cent sack rate illustrated the collective struggles of the offensive line.
“It’s the truth. There’s no sugarcoating it. It was disappointing on all levels,” Redblacks offensive line coach Bryan Chiu said Monday.
“We pride ourselves on protecting the quarterback and we didn’t do a good enough job. We have too much talent on this line, regardless of who’s in there. Yeah, we had changes (because of injury), but that’s not an excuse. These guys have been here since the beginning of camp, some of them have been together for two years, and we expect more.
“The quarterback takes the heat for (the loss), but we let him down, and our guys know it.”
The Redblacks also rushed for only 60 yards against the Alouettes, but part of that lack of production in the ground game can be attributed to the change in strategy to a virtually pass-only attack as Ottawa fell further behind on the scoreboard.
An injury that sidelined J’Micheal Deane led to some shuffling on the offensive front on Friday, with Jason Lauzon-Séguin sliding into Deane’s spot at left guard and Jake Silas returning to the right-tackle spot.
This week, although Deane has resumed practice with the first-team offence, there’s lingering uncertainty about the status of right guard Alex Mateas, and the Redblacks want to get running back Travon Van back on the field, so they have to factor in the impact of Canadian Football League roster rules governing the ratio of national and international players in the lineup.
Mateas was at least back on the field Monday for practice at TD Place stadium, but the second-year pro still didn’t participate in full-team drills. Head coach Rick Campbell said it was 50-50 whether Mateas would play against the Lions, and a decision wasn’t expected until after practice on Tuesday.
Chiu said it didn’t matter who played or where. Performances would have to improve both individually and collectively.
“We have veterans. We have the most outstanding lineman (for 2015, SirVincent Rogers), we have an allstar centre (Jon Gott), we’ve got guys that can make the other guys play at a higher level, hold each other accountable,” he said.
“This is professional football and these are pro football players. At the end of the day, there’s not much that needs to be said. A lot of times, they just coach themselves. They know that we got outplayed last week, and we’re going to get it done (Thursday).”
Rogers, whose performance grade against the Alouettes would have taken a hit because of an illegal-procedure penalty that helped shortcircuit a third-quarter possession, said there was nothing secret about the formula for Redblacks success: getting back on the practice field and working on things that required improvement.
Nor, the 30-year-old left tackle said, would the approach to Thursday’s game be any different from last Friday’s or that for any other CFL matchup. It’s always about winning the battle at the line of scrimmage and creating a foundation for overall team success.
“If you’re moving guys around, there may be chemistry issues here and there,” Rogers said, “but we are a close-knit group and everybody plays well, gets along well, so we should be able to make any transition we need to make.”
The last time Travon Van spoke about needing to calm himself down, it was after a creditable second-half performance in the Ottawa Redblacks season-opening victory against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Van said it again Monday, but in vastly different circumstances.
First, Van hadn’t played since injuring his left knee in an on-field pileup during the Redblacks’ second game of the CFL season against the Montreal Alouettes on June 30.
Second, the Redblacks have lost three of their past four, including last Friday’s disheartening 43-19 trouncing by the Alouettes, so they could really use a jolt from the speedy tailback.
“I’m a little too pumped up right now,” Van said following practice at TD Place stadium, where the Redblacks will face the B.C. Lions on Thursday. “Obviously, I have to calm it down and understand that it’s just a game, go out there and make my plays and just relax.
“That’s the most important thing: Play comfortable, try not to hold back and go out there and give it all you’ve got.”
Nic Grigsby and Kienan LaFrance handled tailback duty during Van’s absence and ran for 265 and 157 yards, respectively, both averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Van averaged a full yard more, producing 133 yards on 24 attempts.
“The skill set that Travon brings is that he’s very fast,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said. “He’s also multi-faceted coming out of the backfield. In the CFL, big plays are a huge part of the game, and we’re hoping he can add to the dynamic of creating bit plays.”
Van said he expected to wear a brace on his left knee, which was subjected to rehabilitation, but not surgery, for at least a couple of games.
“I’ve never really been hurt, so I was hoping to wake up the next morning feeling better, but, when I woke up feeling worse, it was like, ‘Oh, oh, this is going to be a long thing,’” Van said.
Eight weeks long, in fact.
That’s the most important thing: Play comfortable, try not to hold back and go out there and give it all you’ve got.