‘No massaging needed’: Mike O’Shea insists Taylor Elgersma took Bombers QB demotion in stride

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It’s been a week of firsts for Taylor Elgersma.

On Sunday, he secured his first CFL victory, stepping in to salvage a 14-13 win for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after franchise quarterback Zach Collaros went down with a neck injury. Along the way, he completed his first CFL pass and threw his first CFL touchdown.

By Thursday, he’d added his first CFL benching to that list.

With Collaros slated to miss Friday’s clash with the Toronto Argonauts, the Bombers have elected to go with veteran Dru Brown as the interim starter. Elgersma will remain the primary backup, the same as he was last week, but won’t be allowed to make his first career start.

However, head coach Mike O’Shea doesn’t believe the 24-year-old Canadian rookie will need any additional TLC from the coaching staff after the disappointment of that decision.

“There’s no massaging needed,” O’Shea insisted. “He is a pro well beyond that age.”

“Yes, you can see (the disappointment) in his face. He wants opportunities, but he wants to be a great teammate, and he wants to help. He knows the (quarterback) room is good, and he knows he can learn. He recognizes the opportunities he’s going to have just to be in that room. Every competitor, especially at that position, wants the chance to have the ball in their hands, but he is very, I don’t want to say old, but I think he’s a little more old school and he seems like he’s a pro already.”

Winnipeg’s decision to start Brown this week hardly came as a surprise. The team paid handsomely to re-acquire the 29-year-old two weeks ago in a trade with Ottawa, giving up a first-round pick in 2027 and the chance to lose another in 2028 if certain playtime conditions are met. However, the Bombers did shock some when they elected not to dress Brown in Hamilton, which opened the door for Elgersma.

At the time, O’Shea suggested that Brown needed more time to learn the playbook and build rapport with his new receivers. Those arguments never made much sense, given that he had played with a number of his weapons during his first stint with Winnipeg and had spent the intervening two seasons with current Bombers’ offensive coordinator Tommy Condell as his playcaller with the Redblacks.

“I think I can do a lot of things. I have confidence in myself, but I appreciate and I trust everyone that makes decisions here,” Brown said, indicating that he felt he could have played last week. “I don’t necessarily worry about the ‘what if’ this or that. I have a lot of respect for Coach Osh, and that was the decision that he made. I just decided that I trust him, and I’m going to be supportive of whoever had to play.”

O’Shea admitted that a touch of loyalty and sentimentality may have affected his decision, as he didn’t want to rush to sit a player in Elgersma who had been with the team throughout training camp.

“I guess it would be foolish to say zero. Subconsciously, there’s probably always a bit of that for me, but the truth is knowing the playbook and knowing your players and how everybody works together takes a little bit more time too,” he acknowledged. “With Dru, you would always be confident in his ability to execute out there because of his experience and his professionalism. I just thought the best chance at that moment would be a guy who’s been through the whole training camp and knows everything, and who Tommy has prepared for.”

Elgersma ultimately saw close to three quarters of action due to the injury, completing 11 of 15 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown. While it wasn’t a world-beating performance by any stretch of the imagination, it proved to be just enough to secure a one-point comeback win and drew praise from O’Shea post-game.

Even so, that didn’t prompt any pause from the Bombers when deciding to return the former Hec Crighton Trophy winner to the bench. Though he bristled at the suggestion that Winnipeg’s decision was already made for them, O’Shea indicated that his choice was clear.

“I don’t know that it’s difficult. We brought Dru in for a reason. We brought Dru in for this reason,” he stated. “You execute the plan as it was laid out.”

O’Shea noted that Collaros is close to being available, but the team has elected to protect him on a short week. For however long he’s out, this will be Brown’s team.

The incoming pivot understands all too well the frustration associated with being passed over, given how his tenure in Ottawa ended. He’s sympathetic to Elgersma’s situation and believes he’s handling it as well as anyone within the QB room would.

“I think that I try to look at it through his lens, and I felt like I did a decent job of just supporting him last week and helping him out with what he needed. Taylor’s a great kid, great person, and he’s been awesome this week,” Brown said.

“I think (the quarterbacks) understand the role of each and every one of us. Sometimes it changes, but it’s a really supportive room and guys that just love football, which is always fun to be a part of.”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-2) will host the Toronto Argonauts (2-2) at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, July 10, with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of 29 degrees and sun. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1050 in Toronto and 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.

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.