Bridge looking to ‘make reps count’
Mississauga native Brandon Bridge didn’t get much chance to showcase his quarterbacking talents last week in the Montreal Alouettes’ first preseason game, a 36-13 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Bridge completed two of three passes for only 16 yards while splitting time with four other pivots. The 24-year-old hopes to see more action Friday in the team’s final tune-up against the Toronto Argonauts in Montreal.
“I thought I did pretty well last week,” Bridge told the Star from camp in Sherbrooke, Que. “I went through the reads. I also completed another pass, but it got called back for a penalty.”
The second-year Alouette faces an uphill struggle, at a position dominated by Americans. Throw in the fact that the Als brought eight quarterbacks to camp, and it’s been hard getting reps.
Coach and general manager Jim Popp explained that he wanted insurance after the Als experienced a rash of QB injuries all last season. Bridge, however, is philosophical about the lack of reps.
“At the end of the day, you don’t want to count your reps. You want to make your reps count,” Bridge said.
Bridge, fourth-round draft pick of the Als last season, had been passed over in the NFL draft after an outstanding collegiate career at South Alabama.
In his rookie season with Montreal, the six-foot-five, 235-pound quarterback was used sparingly, but he delivered in his first CFL start, in the final game of the regular season. Bridge completed 21 of 30 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns in a 3024 overtime loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
At training camp, he has had to learn a revamped offensive system introduced by new offensive co-ordinator Anthony Calvillo. Bridge says he has been blessed to have a camp roommate in Kevin Glenn, who at 37 is going into his 12th CFL season.
“He’s been a great mentor,” Bridge said. “He’s been sharing a lot of information with me.”
Competing for No. 2 behind Glenn are Rakeem Cato, Vernon Adams Jr. and Tajh Boyd. Jonathan Crompton, still recovering from an injuryplagued season, is not in the mix right now.
Injuries in the pre-season have cut deep, and TSN analyst Chris Schultz believes the risk isn’t worth it. He’s calling for the CFL to go right into the regular season and scrap the pre-season. The Eskimos, Bombers and Redblacks have all lost key personnel. Ottawa tailback William Powell is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles he suffered in Monday night’s game against Winnipeg. The Bombers will be without centre Jeff Keeping (knee) for six to eight weeks, and Edmonton lost defensive back John Ojo (Achilles) for the season, although his injury came in practice.
Edmonton head coach Jason Maas obviously doesn’t believe in the maxim: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Despite a powerful offence last year that resulted in a Grey Cup championship, the new head coach of the Eskimos is going to a no-huddle offence to create the uptempo style he brought to the Ottawa Redblacks as offensive co-ordinator last season. The no-huddle requires quicker thinking by all players or it breaks down. Edmonton’s offence ranked second last season with 359.6 yards per game, behind Ottawa (386.3 yards). ONE-TWO PUNCH: Is there a better 1-2 quarterback combo in the league than Henry Burris and Trevor Harris in Ottawa? Last year, Harris threw a league-leading 33 TD passes for Toronto, while Burris was tied for second with 26. A good, experienced backup is gold, and Ottawa right now is the gold standard. Burris, 41, says there are “more tricks and toys” in the playbook this season.
CUTDOWN DAYS: CFL rosters had to be down to 65 players by Tuesday night. The final 46-man roster deadline is Sunday at 11:59 p.m.