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John Woods \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n
The Calgary Stampeders held reigning CFL MOP and Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira (left) to just 15 carries for 68 yards in Friday\u2019s tilt.<\/p>\n
Oliveira injured his shoulder on the third offensive play of the season, which knocked him out for the rest of the game and two weeks after that. Winnipeg managed without their bellwether, leaning on Peterson while cruising to a three-game win streak out of the gates.<\/p>\n
Since Oliveira\u2019s return, however, the Bombers\u2019 offence has had back-to-back disappointing outings in which the team has fallen into large deficits and been forced to throw.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost reminding me of last season, kind of how it started \u2014 starting slow,\u201d said Oliveira, who has 178 rushing yards on 30 carries and hasn\u2019t found the end zone this season.<\/p>\n
Peterson has 48 rushes for 245 yards and one touchdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, that injury\u2026 even if I\u2019m not 100 per cent, I\u2019m gonna try to beat the odds, whatever the timelines are, and try and get back out on the field as quick as possible,\u201d Oliveira added. \u201cI think I\u2019ve done that with that injury, and I think now I\u2019m just trying to feel like myself, and I think every single week I\u2019m starting to feel like myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a modest explanation from the 27-year-old, who has been efficient when the ball is in his hands. Currently, Oliveira is tying a career-high 5.9 yards per carry and has been reliable in the receiving game, catching 11 passes for 91 yards.<\/p>\n
However, catching a bunch of passes isn\u2019t how the Bombers prefer to incorporate him into the game plan.<\/p>\n
Throwing the ball 40 to 50 times per game is something the team is happy to do if that\u2019s what it takes to win, but they would rather stick the ball into Olivera\u2019s gut and let him churn out yards behind the offensive line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese last two weeks, none of us were expecting that outcome. So I think for me\u2026 I just want to win games,\u201d said Oliveira, who is on pace for 180 carries and 1,068 rushing yards \u2014 both lows since 2022, his first season as a full-fledged starter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s us getting the ball 12 times a game, or 20 touches, or 25 touches, whatever it\u2019s going to take in any given week to win the game, because I know every single week is going to look differently,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be challenging to be able to lean on the offensive line and run the ball when you need to score points. It\u2019s a long season. You\u2019re going to see plenty of games this year where the offensive line and myself are going to take a lot of games over this year and help this team win a lot of football games.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bombers (3-2) are in Toronto to face the Argonauts (1-5) at BMO Field on Saturday (6 p.m. CT). It\u2019s a matchup that perhaps has Oliveira licking his chops, as the Argos are allowing the third-most rushing yards per game to opponents this season (118).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you\u2019re trailing, you\u2019ve got to throw the ball a little bit more. No frustration there,\u201d offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan said about whether the last two games have frustrated him and how he\u2019s used Oliveira.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I love Brady to death. I love him like a brother. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s what\u2019s going to help this football team win, whether that\u2019s one carry for a yard or 100 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see him have success, but I also think the injury, getting his legs back into it, I think we saw a difference from the previous game against Calgary. So, it\u2019s baby steps, one week at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bombers have eclipsed 400 yards of net offence in each of the last two contests, but it\u2019s been the turnovers that have crippled this team. Zach Collaros and Chris Streveler have thrown six interceptions combined \u2014 two returned for touchdowns \u2014 which has put the team in deep holes.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press Files<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan said he has been forced to rely less on the running game because the Blue and Gold have found themselves trailing against the Calgary Stampeders.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a series of untimely mistakes that have this offence stuck in first gear.<\/p>\n \u201cI think (the offence is) where we want it to be; we just got to find a way to execute and finish,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cYou look at statistically the last two games, we got 400 offensive yards, we just got to end in the end zone with points.\u201d<\/p>\n Oliveira said the onus is on the players to start faster. It\u2019s going to be critical on the road this weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, at the end of the day, we as players need to go out there and execute to make it maybe a little bit easier on his plate as a play caller,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take all of us to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n Injury update<\/p>\n Head coach Mike O\u2019Shea maintained that he\u2019s reserving hope left tackle Stanley Bryant (ankle) will suit up this weekend, despite not logging a practice, so far, this week. <\/p>\n \u201cI saw him moving around pretty damn good,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see, though. You know Stan doesn\u2019t need to practise, though? A lot of the vets do not need to practice.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t Bryant hasn\u2019t practised since being injured in the Bombers\u2019 Week 5 contest in Calgary. Should that continue into Saturday\u2019s game in Toronto, it would mark more than two weeks since he was last on the field.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of guys have played really well for a very long time (without practising),\u201d O\u2019Shea added. \u201cI don\u2019t think he needs any tune-up in terms of scheme or anything like that. And, once again, unless he\u2019s cleared to play, he wouldn\u2019t be playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Also not practising are running back Peyton Logan (thigh) and long-snapper Mike Benson (hip). Logan was injured early in training camp and has yet to suit up for a game, while Benson was injured in the club\u2019s season opener.<\/p>\n joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n X: @jfreysam<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Joshua Frey-Sam Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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