Tim Burke was his straight-shooting self this week when he returned to Winnipeg from Kansas where he attended the funeral of his mother-in-law on Monday.
On the heels of back-to-back losses at home, Burke said they will change the way they play defence, and make sure that they have the right players on their roster to author a turn-around.
In point form, here are some of the items that the candid Burke touched on in addressing his club and their less-than-stellar play in those two home losses
– Regarding defensive meltdowns in the last two outings, Burke said: “I’ve spoken to defensive coordinator Casey Creehan and told him I am going to get more involved in the defence. I think we need to play more man to man and we need to blitz more. We were too conservative against rookie Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell”
– On what he will say to his team as they prepare for a visit to BC on Monday, Burke stated: “We are having too many mental errors at this point in the season. My patience is pretty thin. As a coach and a teacher, I have to maintain a positive approach and inspire, not tear down, the players. But it has now become strictly business. If we continue to do this, we will have to make some changes. And it’s just business. The players’ business is to correct this, and if they can’t, we’ll have to find somebody else who can.”
– When it comes to the criticism directed toward offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, Burke responded: “I think Gary is a very fine football coach and I think he understands the CFL game for the most part. In his defence, I don’t think our players have been on the same page, our quarterback play has to be better overall and I think we just have to be more consistent. I was encouraged by some of the things Justin Goltz did against Calgary and I believe we are making progress. But we do have to get running back Chad Simpson more involved in our offence. He is a potential game-breaker.”
– Regarding a comment from one of his players that they were “flat” in the loss against the Stampeders, Burke blasted that spin on his team’s poor play saying: “That’s a blatant excuse, I don’t know who said it, but it’s just an excuse, and those are worthless in the game of football. It goes against everything I believe in as a coach because everything I believe in as a coach, you give your personal best and try to perform your personal best every day and then re-do it the next day and the next da, just keep building on what you’ve done in the past. Your motivation should be to want to be the best you can possibly be today, better than you’ve ever been before…and for someone to say they came out flat, tells me they don’t have the right mentality…..and they better straighten it out, or they’ll be gone.”
– And finally, in response to a caller on his weekly radio show on CJOB, Burke said: “This isn’t what we have worked for, we certainly expected better results. The only thing I would say is, we really value your support through the years, we want you to stick around and we want to put a better product on the field for you.”
However the rest of the CFL season unfolds for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, one thing is for certain: Gead coach Tim Burke will never be accused of sugar-coating things.
