First, the good news for everyone in Bomberland: quarterback Zach Collaros was back in full gear at Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice on Tuesday after missing last week’s loss in Hamilton to the Tiger-Cats.
The still-to-be-determined layer to that?
With his workload so limited — he barely threw a pass during the session with Chris Streveler operating the offence and Terry Wilson running the scout team against the defence — it’s still uncertain whether he’ll be behind centre for Saturday’s game in Ottawa against the Redblacks.
And the cold, hard reality layer on top of all this?
Unless the Blue Bombers quickly figure out a way to stop turning the ball over at an alarming rate they could have a transformer-type quarterback made up of all the good parts of Collaros, Streveler, Dieter Brock, Matt Dunigan, Jack Jacobs, and Khari Jones — Optimus Pivot, we’ll call that beast — and it won’t make a lick of difference who takes the first snap from centre.
Consider this: Winnipeg’s -12 turnover differential is the worst in the Canadian Football League, and the opposition has turned those mistakes into 93 points — including 14 in last week’s loss to the Ticats.
Also, Collaros (13) and Streveler (10), rank second and third to Toronto’s Nick Arbuckle (14) in most interceptions thrown this season.
Asked after practice how a number that ugly has happened, head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:
“That’s a great question. Obviously, we keep digging for those answers because it’s hard to win football games like that. I’ve said this at least 100 times — you can’t just pin it all on the quarterbacks. You’re looking at a stat that gets tagged to the quarterback but that doesn’t tell the story on all those plays; you have to look at each one of those plays individually and assess where we could be better.
“Usually when there’s a catastrophic play like that, there’s multiple answers to those questions.”
FYI, O’Shea didn’t rule out Collaros for this week with the club still having potentially two full practice days before the game in Ottawa, but the workload on Tuesday was telling.
He also was steadfast in his defence of Streveler, who finished Friday’s loss completing 18-of-29 pass attempts for 241 yards with a TD pass to Keric Wheatfall and the two picks while rushing 11 times for 81 yards and another score.
Streveler is now 2-1 as a starter this season with six touchdowns against the 10 picks and 7-9 as a starter in his CFL career.
“I think people are forgetting what Chris has done for us,” O’Shea said. “You look back at his run in 2019… I mean, it’s common knowledge that he played with an injury that most people wouldn’t even step on the field with and he happened to tear it up and gut it out and help lead us to a championship.
“That kind of leadership, that kind of fire, is still all evident. And he has played for us since and won us games. He’s stood in the pocket and delivered, and he’s run the ball and when he’s in there he certainly allows us to have a whole bunch of different plays that with most quarterbacks you wouldn’t be able to do those things.
“When I think of Chris, I can picture him willing his teammates and dragging people on his back and also throwing big passes and making things work. When I picture him, I picture a leader who is out there driving the energy on the field.
“When he’s out there on the field he brings an energy that is pretty special, like Zach does, too,” he added. “Zach brings a different type of energy, a different type of fire. They both bring fire, but they just have a different way about them, how they go about their business and each one is effective. So, I would hate to pin losses on Strev.”
Quarterbacks are always an easy target, especially when the picks turn into points.
“Just can’t turn over, man, and we’ve just been doing that too much this year,” Streveler conceded. “We moved the ball. We did. We didn’t finish in the end zone enough, but we moved the ball and the one positive I did like is guys didn’t stop fighting until the end. We put together a couple drives there, and our team didn’t show any quit. That’s the stuff you can build on.
“Obviously, I have to, we have to. take better care of the football.
“… We put our defence in a tough position there. I thought our defence played a really, really good game but when you give (opposing offences) short fields like that it’s hard on them. I’ve got to do a better job, we’ve all got to do a better job, of continuing to make that a point of emphasis and carry it over to game day.”
OUCH REPORT: There was some encouraging news from Tuesday’s session on the injury front, with WR Jerreth Sterns and DB Jamal Parker, Jr. both back in gear, although limited.
DB Michael Griffin II, meanwhile, did not practice.
Injury Report: Tuesday, September 16#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/fXhoxlmcU5
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) September 16, 2025
ICYMI: Linebacker Kyrie Wilson was the latest guest on The Huddle — the 43rd episode we’ve done dating back to last year — and the show can be watched here: