Dressler ready for Winnipeg do-over after being knocked out of Bombers debut

WINNIPEG — Weston Dressler is ready for a do-over of his first CFL regular-season game with the Blue Bombers.

The veteran receiver said after Monday’s practice he’s “good to go” and will play Thursday in Hamilton.

Dressler was knocked out of Winnipeg’s season-opener June 24 after a helmet-to-helmet collision with Montreal cornerback Ethan Davis in the first quarter.

“I think I was in for two series, not a whole lot of plays,” Dressler said.

One of the team’s big off-season signings, the former Saskatchewan wide receiver had missed both exhibition games because of a lower-body injury.

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Admitting he was “amped” for the home-opener with his new club, he said he was injured during a play in which he was trying to make a difference.

It was first down with 25 yards to go when Dressler caught a pass from quarterback Drew Willy and decided to run up field to get more yards. He was hit and the gain was only seven yards.

“Some people say get out of bounds in that situation,” said Dressler, who’s in his ninth season. “In my eyes, at that time, second and long is a bad situation for the team. So I thought if I can fight for a few more (yards), get us in a little more manageable situation, we can convert the first down. We just went two-and-out the previous series.

“In hindsight, obviously with the injury coming out, might have been better off going out of bounds. But that’s football.”

Dressler finished with three catches for 22 yards as the Bombers fell 22-14 to the Alouettes. They followed that up with a 36-22 loss in Calgary last Friday to start the season 0-2.

“I feel like I can bring some more energy and, hopefully, some of those big plays that create that energy and excitement and can kind of create more momentum for the offence,” Dressler said.

That’s what Willy is hoping for.

“He adds so much to our offence,” Willy said of Dressler. “Explosion, ability to get open. He knows the offence. He’s the ultimate pro.

“He’s seen it all so he’ll give us information on the sideline that he’s seeing and he’ll have good suggestions. And then he’s obviously a great player.”

When asked to assess why the offence couldn’t find consistency through the first two games, he had a simple answer.

“Just each taking our turn making mistakes is what it comes down to,” Willy said.

Head coach Mike O’Shea described the second and third quarters of the loss to the Stampeders as “garbage.” His team was down 36-7 heading into the fourth.

“When I re-watch it and we look at specifically the defence and missed tackles, you see guys that were tired, that were ducking their head and missing tackles because at that stage in the game, they had played a lot of plays and hadn’t got off the field because of probably execution,” O’Shea said.

“There’s all reasons for it that we can figure out and work on.”

Winnipeg fans had booed the team during the Montreal game and the criticism has continued after the poor showing against the Stamps.

“That criticism just makes us work even harder,” said rookie defensive end Shayon Green. “We appreciate that they want us to be better, and we should be better, and that’s why we come to work everyday to prepare like any other day and win games.”

Free-agent acquisition Andrew Harris was second in the league for rushing yards last season, but only has 21 carries for 93 yards and 15 receptions for 127 yards through the two losses.

“I think we are a great team, we just haven’t put it all together yet,” Harris said.

“I think we’re going to be better this week and as the season goes on, we’re going to continue to get better.”

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press