In the aftermath of the Winnipeg Blue Bomber’s third straight Grey Cup loss, head coach Mike O’Shea admitted that starting quarterback Zach Collaros wasn’t placed in a position to succeed.
“We put him in a very tough spot,” O’Shea said at the podium. “It was a situation he demanded to be put in.”
With 2:34 remaining in the third quarter and his team trailing by four, Collaros hit his right hand on a helmet while attempting a pass to Keric Wheatfall. The veteran QB went back to the locker room to get stitches and returned to the game with a glove on his throwing hand.
Collaros finished 15-of-30 for 202 yards and four interceptions — three of which came after the injury. O’Shea recognized Collaros’ return wasn’t ideal and said he wouldn’t have come back if it wasn’t in the Grey Cup game.
“He really had an extremely hard time gripping the ball,” he explained. “If it would have been a regular season game, he wouldn’t have gone back in. He couldn’t pass the way he is used to passing and I think it was very difficult for him to have the control he would normally have.”
Collaros shared the same perspective about playing injured but didn’t want to use what happened to his hand as an excuse for the performance his team offered at BC Place on Sunday.
“The glove was alright. For them (the medical staff), to put the stitches in the finger, it was a little numb. The grip was hard, I told the guys in the huddle,” he said.
“It was numb, but it’s not an excuse for our performance tonight. O’Shea and the guys for letting me try to get it back there.”
The Blue Bombers scored three points with Collaros out of the game, as backup Terry Wilson failed to capitalize on a red zone interception from Willie Jefferson. The Argonauts answered with the next 24 points en route to the win, including a pick-six by Robert Priester and two more takeaways returned into prime field position.
The Argonauts emerged with a 41-24 victory in the 111th Grey Cup. Collaros felt that his injury was the starting point of the team’s meltdown.
“Things kind of snowballed from there. It’s just a tough situation. I’m obviously disappointed.”
The Blue Bombers will have a long offseason ahead, with multiple decisions that need to be made before the free agent market opens in February. The 112th Grey Cup will be played next year at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
