Need to Know | Week 19 vs. Calgary

The critical question now then, is just how this bunch drags itself up off the canvas again and starts throwing punches in this weekend's critical home date with the Calgary Stampeders.

Yes, a win this weekend not only heals some of the wounds from the shots taken in Montreal it would also breathe life into the Blue Bombers playoff hopes again.

"Yeah, it was discouraging. But at the end of the day, it's pro football and if you get stuck in the past then you're going to get stomped over for the next week," said veteran Blue Bombers receiver Nic Demski after Wednesday's closed-to-the-media practice.

"We're on to the next week. We still have a great opportunity ahead of us and we've got to embrace that. We come out here, we play good football for the rest of the year and we're going to be where we want to be so that's all you can ask for.

"In my head at least, it's playoffs start now. Every week is going to be a dogfight, it's going to be a scrap, and you've got to earn it. What better way to play football?"

A win this weekend would not only stop the bleeding of a two-game skid for the Blue Bombers, but it would also improve them to 8-8 and give them the season series with the Stampeders, currently 8-8, as a potential tiebreaker. Winnipeg, FYI, also has the potential tiebreaker the Saskatchewan Roughriders, now 8-7, after splitting their season series 1-1 but winning the points differential over those two games.

Bottom line, while a win on Saturday won't officially clinch a spot it would be a massive step, especially after last Saturday's performance in which the team was thoroughly outclassed by the Alouettes.

Handling all this -- the sting of losing with the need to get back into the fight -- will be the test for the Blue Bombers over the next few days before kickoff Saturday night.

"It's about balance," Demski said. "If you hold onto it and have too much anger then you're probably not going to do your assignment the right way. But if you do that that in the back of your mind, a bad taste, and use that for fuel in the right way then it can be a positive. I don't think anybody was happy with how last week unfolded so it would be in the best interest of everybody to have a sour taste and come out swinging.

"We aren't happy with what we put on film, but I don't think anybody's discourage or has lost hope. Everybody knows the potential we have here. If we go 1-0 each week, we're going to put ourselves in great position to be happy at the end of this year. That's all we can focus on. We can't focus on the past. We've got to focus on moving forward, playing to our standard of football and going 1-0 each week, one week at a time."

That's been the message over the last few days. But with the runway shortening now, it really is about action speaking louder than words.

"It was rough. To be blunt, we got whupped," said linebacker Tony Jones. "And whenever you get whupped like that you have to sit on it for a bit, dwell on it, and then you figure out how to flush it. You have a day or two to think about those mistakes and then it's a new week and you can't let that carry over.

"At first it's hard after you have a game like that. And then the sun comes out and you're still in a position to get to the playoffs. It's about putting out there and finishing how we know we can instead of just talking about it."

More from Bomberland in this week's NEED TO KNOW...

OUCH UPDATE: Wednesday's injury report from the closed practice lists QB Zach Collaros (head) as having had a limited practice.

Asked what the chances are of getting Collaros back this week, head coach Mike O'Shea said: "You know me -- I'll never call it. I'll always give him the opportunity."

Demski offered this when asked about a potential return of QB1, who has been out since the Banjo Bowl win over Saskatchewan:

"Everybody knows how I feel about Zach. That's no secret. I love playing with Zach. We have confidence in every quarterback we have in this locker room; we have confidence in every player we have in that locker room. No matter who's back there, whose dressing we've got to come out here and play our standard of football."

SEVEN DEADLY SINS: O'Shea, while admitting his squad was 'beat soundly' on Saturday, also pointed out that the defence was in position to make some critical plays but did not against the Als.

That's both a tip of the hat to the precision of Montreal's attack and a plea for his crew to finish.

"I go back and look at the clips of seven plays that amounted to seven completions for just under 200 yards where our DBs are right in the hip pocket where they're hands are going through where the ball is being caught and we just don't knock it out," he said. "Whereas the game we played against Montreal prior I think we had 10 knockdowns or something like that... a lot. So, those seven amounting to just under 200 yards, in other games we got them and this time we didn't. They made great plays and we didn't make great plays but they're highly contested; it's not like they were running scott-free with nobody on them.

"We gave up a touchdown where a guy wasn't covered; we missed a couple tackles that amounted to a bunch of yards but the compete level, all that stuff, was good. It's just they made more plays than we did their offence versus our defence."

NEW BLUE BLOOD: The Blue Bombers added to their Canadian depth on Wednesday by signing receiver Vyshonne Janusas (5-11, 229, University of Guelph) to their practice roster.

A fifth-round pick of the Stampeders in 2025, Janusas started two games for Calgary earlier this year before being released and then scooped up by the Roughriders, who released him late last month.

During his college days, he had 71 catches for 1,010 yards and eight TDs for the Gryphons while also returning kicks.