The Canadian Press
REGINA — Zach Collaros says his status for Sunday’s 109th Grey Cup won’t be an issue.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ quarterback told reporters on Thursday that despite an ankle injury, he’ll be available to play on Sunday, when the Bombers look to win their third consecutive Grey Cup.
“I’ll be ready to go,” he told a crush of reporters at the club’s media day appearance. They were his first comments to media this week, after he’d sat out of his team’s practices on Wednesday and Thursday.
“I’m ready to play. I’m listening to the training staff and doing everything that I can to prepare to help my team win the game.”
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Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea was direct in his assessment of his star quarterback.
“Zach will play Sunday. I’m totally confident,” he said.
“Zach can do all sorts of things all different ways. He’s a winner. He will always find a way.”
Collaros, 34, will try to steer the Bombers to a rare Grey Cup three-peat, a feat that the CFL hasn’t seen in 42 years. The CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player, he threw for career-bests of 4,183 yards and 37 touchdowns this season, as the Blue Bombers won a franchise-record 15 games.
“I don’t like missing practice. I think it’s important,” Collaros said. “Every rep is important to get, whether it’s a game rep, a practice rep. So just from the way that I see the game, I see the position, I think that you should be practising, so it’s tough.
“You don’t like being away from the guys. Especially the last couple days, it’s been pretty cold and windy and I wish I was out there suffering through it with them.”
Dru Brown has taken first-team reps in Bombers practice in Collaros’ absence this week.
Collaros injured his ankle in the late stages of Winnipeg’s 28-20 Western Final win over the BC Lions.
“My foot just got stuck in the ground. It didn’t feel great on the ankle in the moment,” Collaros said of the injury that had him limping off of IG Field. Brown and fellow backup Dakota Prukop closed out the final moments of the game for the Bombers to send them to their third consecutive Grey Cup.
Bombers’ general manager Kyle Walters said the chilly conditions in Regina played a factor in keeping Collaros out on Thursday.
“We just thought it was better for him to just take another day and rest and rehab than go out in that weather,” Walters told The Canadian Press.
“With these conditions, it’s hard to get a ton out of a practice today.”
