Zach Collaros watched Chris Streveler fall to the turf in last weekend\u2019s Blue Bombers\u2019 regular-season finale and knew it was serious.<\/p>\n
The backup quarterback was scrambling against the Montreal Alouettes when he went down before he was even hit. He then grabbed his left knee \u2014 the same knee he tore up last year that ended his season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was heartbroken,\u201d Collaros said Tuesday after the Blue Bombers practised for Saturday\u2019s CFL East Division semifinal in Montreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words. I\u2019ve been talking to him the last couple days and just there\u2019s not really anything you can say to make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg went on to beat the Alouettes 19-10 with third-stringer Terry Wilson at the helm as Collaros was being rested for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Streveler was at practice Tuesday, but he wasn\u2019t wearing gear and had a brace on his left knee while he threw a few balls around.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s injury report didn\u2019t list his status for Saturday\u2019s match, but Collaros said it will be difficult not having Streveler on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an emotional leader for us, for sure,\u201d Collaros said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s out there he does a great job and on the sidelines, whatever that is, he takes his role very seriously and leads.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you lose leadership like that, it makes it tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streveler posted a lengthy message on his Instagram page Sunday, writing he was trying to wrap his mind around what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure what the future looks like, but I\u2019m confident there\u2019s better things waiting for me on the other side of this recovery,\u201d the feisty fan favourite wrote.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg head coach Mike O\u2019Shea was actually positive when asked about Streveler\u2019s status.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never count that guy out,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen that fire burn so hot that you can never count him out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing about posts and texts and all those things, I think sometimes the message gets misconstrued.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s probably safe for fans to assume Wilson will back up Collaros when the Alouettes and Bombers square off after finishing the regular season with identical 10-8 records.<\/p>\n
The Bombers also have quarterback Chase Artopoeus on their roster, but the California native out of UCLA and Tennessee-Chattanooga has no pro experience.<\/p>\n
Homegrown receiver Nic Demski (hamstring) was on the field Tuesday, but also as an observer. The team\u2019s leading receiver missed the past two games after being injured on Oct. 11.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Shea wasn\u2019t ruling Demski out for the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Running back Brady Oliveira was also rested last weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know me, I don’t really like rest,\u201d said Oliveira, who finished fourth in league rushing with 1,163 yards in 15 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand, big picture-wise. So I’m ready to go. I’m fired up and feeling really good for this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg\u2019s offence has been inconsistent down the stretch, but Oliveira is confident it can produce a well-rounded attack against a stiff Montreal defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to the challenge, obviously to help lead this team to victories these next couple of weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if that needs to happen from the run game, then let’s do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have a lot of weapons on this team, where I have full confidence that we can get it done on the ground and in the air.”<\/p>\n
The Bombers are aiming to make it to a sixth consecutive Grey Cup, especially because the championship is being playing in Winnipeg on Nov. 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be back here for the big game at the end of the year,\u201d the Winnipeg-born Oliveira said. \u201cWe understand it’s going to take a lot. That’s been the message around the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg is considered the underdogs against Montreal, but for more than not being hot down the stretch.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time the Bombers have been the crossover squad after finishing fourth in the West. Twelve teams have crossed over in the past, but none have ever made it to the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
Collaros said it\u2019s \u201cpretty cool\u201d they\u2019ve got the opportunity to do what no team has done before, yet he knows it\u2019s tough to win on the road. Winnipeg was 3-6 this season away from home.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be really locked into your process, very concise with your time, your time management, all those things are very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMontreal in and of itself is a very tough place to play. They do a great job, the crowd there is awesome and they make it loud and tough to communicate and all those things, and they have a great football team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collaros joined the Bombers late in 2019, when the team won two playoff games on the road before capturing the Grey Cup to end the franchise\u2019s 28-season championship drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zach Collaros watched Chris Streveler fall to the turf in last weekend\u2019s Blue Bombers\u2019 regular-season finale and knew…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-246737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}