December 23, 2015

Westerman: ‘There’s a lot of hunger in that locker room’

THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG — Jamaal Westerman has all the analogies.

Last year, he said, the Bombers were like a plane without a pilot, trying to navigate through a turbulent season without franchise quarterback Drew Willy. The Bombers started their season 3-4 while Willy, in his second season as Winnipeg’s starting quarterback, was one of the top-ranked passers in the CFL.

He was injured after seven starts and Winnipeg won only two more games the rest of the way, finishing fourth place in the CFL West Division and eighth in the league ahead of only Saskatchewan.

With their injured pilot ready to take over the offence and some help from newly-hired offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice, Westerman said the Bombers are closer than last year’s 5-13 record might indicate.

Now, he continued, it’s about adding a few ingredients.

“The losing was bad, but other than that?” replied Westerman, asked about his first season in the CFL with the Bombers. “High character guys. Guys that you trust, guys that do the right things and guys that prepare and can lay it on the line.

“We had all those ingredients, we just have to find whatever it is – I don’t know if it’s eggs, milk, sugar, brown sugar – maybe we need some brown sugar instead of white sugar.

“Whatever the ingredient it is that we’re missing to get us over the top.”

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Westerman tackles Jerome Messam in Winnipeg’s Banjo Bowl win over the Roughriders.

If the last two years in the CFL have taught us anything, it’s that finding that final ingredient is entirely possible – and sometimes all it takes to go from zero to hero in this league.

The Eskimos did it in 2014, going from 4-14 to 12-6 and then a year later dethroning the Calgary Stampeders atop the West before eventually winning the Grey Cup.

The second-year REDBLACKS only one-upped the Eskimos, going from 2-16 in their inaugural season in the league to winning 12 games, winning the East Division title and appearing in the 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw.

Teams can turn around fast in the CFL and with a new offensive coordinator in the fold and Willy returning from injury, the Bombers are a high-potential candidate to be the team in 2016 that turns it all around – the one that everyone talks about.

“Playing all those games without Drew really hurt us,” Westerman, the West Division’s Most Outstanding Canadian, recalled late in November during Grey Cup week.

“He gives everything he has – his preparation, the way he prepares every game, the way he’s ready to go, the type of person he is,” he continued. “He’s a very high-character guy. He’s always been that guy.

“I’m not saying we lost our confidence but that’s your guy. If you’re a pilot and your pilot leaves the plane, you say ‘alright, who’s the other guy’ – of course there’s going to be a step down.”

While Willy’s injury was the major turning point in the Bombers’ season, one where everything started to go wrong in a hurry, an offence that ranked ninth overall in rushing yards and was sacked the second-most times in the league wasn’t the only problem.

Westerman contributed 17 sacks in his first season in the CFL, good for second in the league behind only Montreal’s John Bowman – but it wasn’t enough to help a defence that finished second-worst in the CFL in net yards allowed at 367.7 yards per game.

THE CANADIAN PRESS
Jamaal Westerman
By the Numbers

That unit, the Brampton, Ont. native conceded, will have to be much better next season.

“I think throughout the year we started off and we played better, we knew each other more, we knew where each other would be and why types of plays we’d be running,” said Westerman. “The coaching staff knew who we were so they knew what plays they could call and we’ll continue to play better because we’ll continue to fight.

“But we have to play better,” he added. “We have to find a way to get off the field at certain times and get those stops when we need them to get the offence back the ball.

“I think it’s a collective thing where we all can get better as a team next year.”

Whatever analogy, pressure is going to be felt in Winnipeg for virtually everyone. The Bombers cleaned house only a few years ago and brought in Kyle Walters to be the general manager and Mike O’Shea as the head coach. With LaPolice back on the Bomber sideline, now it feels like things have gone full circle for the Blue and Gold.

From the front office and the coaching staff to quarterback Willy and Westerman and the Bomber defence, this next season might be the last chance for many in the Winnipeg organization to turn things around.

In short, expect Westerman and the Bombers to be a hungry team next season.

“We have a lot of young guys and I’m excited for next year because there’s a lot of talent on the team, a lot of guys returning that played at a high level and I think there’s a lot of hunger in that locker room,” said Westerman. “People may see a guy smiling and think he’s OK, but nobody was satisfied with how we played this year or how the season ended – from the management, coaching staff, training room, weight room and onto the players – we were all angry.

“I think we know what it takes and we’re going to go back and we’re hungry,” he continued. “Guys are talking about when we’re going to work out, when we’re going to start training.

“Guys are hungry to play better because we all know we have the ingredients to be successful.”