{"id":691715,"date":"2026-05-25T01:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691715\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:47:12","slug":"mike-oshea-encourages-taylor-elgersma-to-enjoy-himself-stop-pressing-after-bombers-preseason-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691715\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike O’Shea encourages Taylor Elgersma to ‘enjoy himself,’ stop ‘pressing’ after Bombers preseason debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matt Johnson\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 head coach Mike O\u2019Shea felt a lot better about Taylor Elgersma\u2019s first CFL game than the Canadian quarterback did himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a stern look on his face when he rolled into the locker room here, and I got to tell him to enjoy himself a little more,\u201d O\u2019Shea joked following the team\u2019s preseason opener in Saskatoon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not happy right now, but I think he should be. It\u2019s an exciting time for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Hec Crighton Trophy winner made his much-anticipated debut for the Bombers<\/a> on Saturday afternoon, playing nearly three quarters of action. The results were decidedly mixed<\/a>, as he completed just six-of-13 passes for 78 yards and two interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with four carries for 18 yards.<\/p>\n

Elgersma\u2019s stat line suffered from a couple of dropped passes by young receivers, and at least one of the interceptions didn\u2019t appear to be his fault. Nevertheless, it felt anticlimactic for fans after months of speculation and hype surrounding his arrival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not so in the eyes of O\u2019Shea, who described the performance as \u201cgood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought (Elgersma showed) decent command and understands the playbook, understands defences like that. I think he is pressing; he wants to make plays,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere\u2019s times where he can just probably slow down a little bit and understand that a completion for a first down is a good play, too. But that\u2019s all stuff that he knows. He comes off to the sideline, he knows exactly what the answers are. Out there, he wants to compete at a high level; he wants to make bigger plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elgersma was selected with the 18th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 CFL Draft, but his arrival in Winnipeg was delayed by a year as he pursued opportunities with the NFL\u2019s Green Bay Packers<\/a> and UFL\u2019s Birmingham Stallions<\/a>. The Wilfrid Laurier University product is considered the favourite to win the Bombers\u2019 backup QB job, taking the majority of second-team reps in training camp and earning strong reviews.<\/p>\n

Following the unexpected departures of Payton Thorne<\/a> and Terry Wilson<\/a> this week, former UFL MVP Bryce Perkins is the only remaining competition for the job. He completed five-of-nine passes for 67 yards and an interception against Saskatchewan, but will be graded on a different curve than Elgersma, according to his head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery mobile. Probably had some other opportunities he probably could have taken, but once again, he\u2019s new to this game,\u201d O\u2019Shea said of Perkins\u2019 performance. \u201cTaylor\u2019s got a different look at it because he\u2019s played 12-man football and these same concepts, and understands CFL defences. Perk\u2019s been in it for, whatever, 12 days, so there\u2019s going to be some pictures that are just a little more cloudy for him, and those will clear up as we go along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting quarterback Zach Collaros was also complimentary of the two pivots battling to become his heir, noting that preseason success isn\u2019t determined by the stat sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they threw the ball well. I think it\u2019s going to be good tape to learn from, both in their first games in the CFL,\u201d the two-time M.O.P. said. \u201cIt\u2019s radically different the way that our defence plays. Everything does speed up in a game, but I thought they both carried themselves really well. They got us in and out of the huddles, and there\u2019s a lot more that goes into it besides just the numbers that are in the box score. I thought they both carried themselves really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investment that the Bombers have made in Elgersma means that he\u2019ll be given every opportunity to bounce back from his disappointing outing. Winnipeg will return home for their preseason finale on Friday, May 29, against the B.C. Lions, giving fans at Princess Auto Stadium their first live look at the Canadian gunslinger.<\/p>\n

When asked whether this week\u2019s mistakes could serve as valuable lessons for the 24-year-old, O\u2019Shea didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt,\u201d he stated. \u201cHe\u2019ll learn from them, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Matt Johnson\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 head coach Mike O\u2019Shea felt a lot better about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,22070,22936,137441,49,48,7028,521,522,520,527,2002,170990,46430,82,173382,22073,52049],"class_list":["post-691715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-blue-bombers","tag-bombers","tag-bryce-perkins","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-league","tag-mike-oshea","tag-preseason","tag-sports","tag-taylor-elgersma","tag-winnipeg","tag-zach-collaros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691715","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=691715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}