Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
Cortez: Offence “belongs to everybody”
Reporters looked to find the source of the Ticats recent offensive struggles on the eve of the team’s Week 12 contest with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Head Coach George Cortez explained that the offensive group can only be analyzed as a whole. One aspect of the unit may lift or lower its results from play to play, but the final product is constructed as a team.
“The passing game – and offence in general – it belongs to everybody,” said Cortez on Friday.
“We’re always looking ahead at the upcoming games, no matter who we’re getting ready to play. I just finished, over the last two days, watching a game of one of our upcoming opponents. I honestly can’t figure out how they lost the game, because they were playing so well against the other team.”
“It all goes together. Sometimes, the receivers rescue the quarterback and make a great catch on a crappy throw, and nobody mentions that. Sometimes it goes the other way. You make a great throw and the ball isn’t caught.”
Cortez used the example of pass protection to further illustrate his point.
“We had pretty fair protection last week but on the very first play of the game we had a sack,” the coach assessed. “That sets a negative mindset for a while about how the protection was.”
“It all goes together. When you play well, everybody gets credit. When you don’t, the quarterback gets the blame.”
Cortez: We can’t dwell on the streak
Cortez indicated that he is not hounded by the Ticats recent losing streak.
Losses bring with them natural periods of reflection, but the coach argued on Friday that to dwell on previous defeats or victories would negatively affect preparation for the next game at hand.
“[Coaches] all work on leaving no stone unturned,” said Cortez. “[A loss] just makes you wonder what you could have done to make one more first down to keep a drive alive, or what could we have done better on special teams.”
“Win or lose, by the day after a game, you’re already talking about the next game. You’re getting prepared for the next game. If you’re dwelling on the last game, you’re never going to recover to do the best that you can do.”
Cortez: Marwan will be missed
Friday brought the news that veteran Ticat centre Marwan Hage will miss the remainder of the 2012 season due to a tricep injury.
Hage will undergo surgery to repair the ailing muscle on Thursday.
Cortez addressed the loss of his starting centre, and indicated that the offensive line’s experience without Hage in the lineup this season should serve it well as it copes with his long-term absence.
“You hate to lose a good player. You hate to lose somebody who’s experienced in this league and understands what goes on defensively,” said the coach of Hage.
“We’ve had to play without him for several games this year. Obviously, we’d prefer to have him playing centre and Tim (O’Neill) playing guard, but that’s contact football. Guys get hurt.”
Cortez: Torrey Davis is “going to have an opportunity”
It appears that recent addition Torrey Davis will make his debut in Black and Gold tomorrow night.
Davis has spent only a week practicing with the team, but Cortez explained that defensive linemen such as he could be quickly integrated into a new lineup.
“He’s certainly going to have an opportunity to show what he can do tomorrow,” said the coach of the ex-Stampeder.
“Not to make defensive line sound simple, but you’re usually either lining up on the inside shade or outside shade of a guy. It’s one of the places where you can play the fastest, because there’s a limited number of spots where you align and a limited number of things that you do.”
“It’s not like offensive line, where you’ve got 42 calls on any given play and you’re dealing with guys on both sides of you.”
Cortez confirmed that Davis will be expected to aid the Ticats run-stopping efforts tomorrow.
“We’re hoping that we get a push out of him and that he’s good against the run,” said the coach. “Looking at the tape of him this year, at times he was truly outstanding against the run. So that is our expectation.”
