By Kevin Thompson
You’ve had a few days to digest Sunday’s game in Montreal… what are your thoughts on your team’s performance against the Alouettes?
MB – “I thought we played hard, we gave ourselves an opportunity to win, and there was a sense of urgency in the football team. Obviously the offense did some positive things. I think the defence did some good things as well and unfortunately the better team won. We are improving and getting to the point where we can compete with those guys.”
Heading into that game, the Alouettes boasted the league’s strongest defence. Did you anticipate this kind of offensive output on the road this week?
MB – “I felt we could be successful, I didn’t know how successful. I was hoping we would get 34 points, and we got a little more than that which gave us a chance to win. Obviously I didn’t realize we would throw for that much but I knew we were capable of having some success against them, and I thought the coaches did a great job with the game plan.”
A couple of rookie receivers, Marquay McDaniel and Drisan James, had solid games in Montreal. Talk about their progression this season…
MB – “Those guys are critical to our success. They’re getting better and the more they can improve and make plays the more pressure they take off of guys like Arland Bruce and Dave Stala… that makes us a more all-around offence. They have been improving and becoming more reliable so that is always important.”
Starting safety Sandy Beveridge left the game in the first half, which resulted in the most significant playing time Dylan Barker has seen in his career. Can you talk about Dylan’s performance?
MB – “He did some positive things which was good because it’s always difficult to step in when you haven’t taken all of the reps. He made some good tackles and did some good things so I was excited to see him get the opportunity to play and he played against a very good offence so that can only give him more confidence in the future.”
Moving on to this week…what are the keys to leaving Toronto with a win on Friday?
MB – “The turnover battle, we are going to have to win the turnover battle… that will be critical. We have to protect our quarterback to give him time to make plays. Then, defensively we are going to have to get after their quarterback… hopefully put them in some extra long situations and create some turnovers ourselves.”
It looks like the Argos may be without two starting offensive linemen. Does this change your defensive game plan at all?
MB – “No, I don’t think so. We are who we are now and we have to do a lot of those good things I just mentioned and if we can we will be ok.”
What will be your message to the team this week?
MB – “Urgency, this is another playoff type game. We have to get ourselves up that way and get ready to play that way so that is just the reality of it.”
