It’ll be Matt Nichols under centre when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers take on the Montreal Alouettes on Friday at Investors Group Field.
Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea ended a week of speculation by naming Nichols his starting quarterback over Chris Streveler as the club returned to practice following a week off.
While he kept his starting QB under wraps during their bye week, O’Shea said the decision was made almost immediately.
“The reality of it is that until I get a chance to speak to the players individually, I’m not going to say anything about the process or the decision making or when it’s made,” O’Shea said.
“But in my mind I knew right away what we were doing. But we finished the game and then they’re on a bye week and to get face-to-face with these guys the day after is not possible.”
Nichols was pulled at the half in their Banjo Bowl loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and under Nichols the offence has struggled in their four straight defeats.
“He’s our leader,” O’Shea said.
“If you don’t like what’s happened in the last couple weeks or whatever, you just know that’s not what his body of work shows is the norm. The norm is excellent football and leadership and competitiveness and drive and so that’s what you expect and I’m sure that’s what we’re going to get.”
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Nichols threw three interceptions in the loss to the Riders before he was yanked. He’s now tossed eight picks in their last four games and while Nichols admits he’s had a few poor outings, he says all players go through their rough patches.
“Obviously it’s a couple tough games for me personally but I think a little bit of a break away from the game, step away from the game for a couple days has been awesome for me,” Nichols said. “At some point everyone is going to play a rough game or two in a row.”
“I know I’m a lot better than what I’ve played the last couple weeks and bad games happen.”
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Nichols could have another weapon at his disposal against the Als as Weston Dressler is expected to be back in the lineup after missing four games with a lower body injury.
“I felt really good at practice today,” Dressler said. “It’s never fun being on the sidelines and watching. It’s hard to do when you’re used to being out there. You want to play, you want to help the team win on the field on game day.”
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Offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick could also return on Friday after sitting out the Banjo Bowl.
“I anticipate they’ll both be good to go,” O’Shea said.
The Bombers will try to snap a four game skid on Friday at Investors Group Field starting at 7:30 pm.
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