WINNIPEG — Brendon LaBatte wasn’t interested in a consolation prize.
After Saturday’s 31-0 CFL loss to the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Investors Group Field, LaBatte was asked if the shutout posted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence in the second half of the contest helped salve the offence’s wounds.
“Definitely not offensively,” replied LaBatte, the Roughriders’ centre. “We’ve got to be able to put points on the board — that’s what we’re paid to do — and we didn’t even come close. The few times we did cross over half, it ended up in a turnover.
“We’ve got a lot to work on offensively.”
The Roughriders generated 12 first downs, gained a season-low 170 yards of net offence and committed four turnovers in the contest. Eight of their 17 possessions in the game were two-and-outs, Josh Bartel punted 12 times and they never advanced past the Winnipeg 40-yard line.
It all added up to Saskatchewan’s first shutout loss since Sept. 26, 2014, when the host Edmonton Eskimos prevailed 24-0.
The blanking also extended the Roughriders’ stretch without an offensive touchdown to 145 minutes 30 seconds. Their last such score was Nick Marshall’s one-yard run at 4:30 of the third quarter during a 34-29 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Sept. 30.
“The inability to score doesn’t hurt as much as the turnovers do,” LaBatte said. “That’s what killed us (Saturday) was the turnovers.
“If we would have been able to control the ball, inevitably there would have been some field goals or maybe a touchdown coming in. You can’t turn the ball over as many times as we did.”
Quarterback Zach Collaros completed eight of 19 pass attempts for 69 yards with two interceptions before being replaced by Brandon Bridge for the Roughriders’ second possession of the second half. Bridge was 7-for-12 passing for 59 yards the rest of the way.
Collaros said he’d have to watch the film before offering an assessment of his play Saturday. He noted the Bombers’ defence didn’t do anything that surprised the Roughriders, but admitted improvements must be made before Saturday’s game in Calgary against the Stampeders.
“We’re going to have to get better for sure,” Collaros said.
When Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones was asked if he was worried about Collaros’ play of late, he replied: “My name is not Chicken Little.”
“I’m not going to sit here and start pointing fingers at anybody,” Jones continued. “If I point fingers at anybody, it needs to be me. Just understand how that works.
“We’ve won the second-most games in the league and not by accident. We’ve got a good football team. Certainly we’ve got things that we’ve got to clean up.”
•••
The injury bug took a big bite out of the Roughriders on Saturday.
With regulars like receivers Naaman Roosevelt and Jordan Williams-Lambert, centre Dan Clark and returner Christion Jones already sidelined, Saskatchewan lost Marshall, guard Dariusz Bladek and defensive tackle Mic’hael Brooks during the contest.
“Dariusz Bladek is probably lost for a long time,” Jones said. “Brooks is definitely lost for a long time. We lost Nick Marshall for about a quarter there; he had something with his hand.
“It was a tough night. It was an expensive loss.”
Bladek (who suffered an injury to his left knee midway through the second quarter) and Brooks (who injured his left ankle late in the fourth quarter) both had to be carted off the field.
•••
With Clark’s injury — which he suffered during Monday’s victory over the Eskimos — the Roughriders moved LaBatte from left guard to centre and inserted newly acquired Philip Blake at left guard.
After just one full practice, Blake started Saturday’s game.
“My head wasn’t spinning,” said Blake, who was acquired from the Alouettes at Wednesday’s CFL trading deadline. “The guys were telling me what to do, so the communication was fine. I didn’t have any problem with that.
“The only thing was getting used to the guys beside me (LaBatte and left tackle Takoby Cofield) and how they play, the angles they take and stuff like that. It takes time to develop that.”
Josiah St. John replaced Bladek on Saturday, meaning the Roughriders’ offensive line will have another new look Saturday in Calgary. That could mean another feeling-out process.
“We’ve just got to make the best of the hand that we’re dealt at this moment in time,” LaBatte said. “We were lucky for the first 15 weeks to not have any injuries. Unfortunately the bug has hit us and we’ve lost a couple of guys, but it’s going to be on the rest of us to pick up the slack and put in the extra time to make sure that we can operate as well as our original unit was.”
•••
Immediately after Saturday’s game, TV cameras showed Roughriders defensive end Willie Jefferson getting into it verbally with some Winnipeg players on the field.
Jefferson shrugged off the incident when asked about it later in the Saskatchewan locker room.
“After the game, you’re trying to shake hands with people and tell them, ‘Good game,’ and stuff like that,” he said. “But then one of the dudes — I’m not going to say his name — but one of the dudes from the team was acting up, doing unnecessary stuff.
“After a game like that, emotions are high. But there was no reason for him to do what he did. It was unnecessary.”
The Roughriders and Bombers won’t play again this season unless they meet in the playoffs.
