Neither Bob Dyce nor Dru Brown were thrilled with what happened in the Redblacks’ second and final preseason game.
They also came out on top with a 19-13 victory over primarily Montreal Alouettes backups on Friday night.
“When you want to win, it’s tough to do if you beat yourself, and with the number of penalties we took, we almost put ourselves in that situation,” Dyce said to begin his post-game media availability after 14 red flags were thrown against his team, more than doubling the number of calls against the Redblacks in last week’s 31-22 victory in Hamilton. “We need to be much more disciplined, and it’s my fault. At the end of the day, I’m responsible for all that, so that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job with regards to that.”
Dyce was also unhappy with the number of dropped passes, roughly seven, by players making up what’s supposed to be Ottawa’s strongest and deepest position.
“We had a few balls put on the ground, and we have to be better in that regard as receivers,” said Dyce. “Dropped balls are drive killers. And it ends (the quarterback’s) opportunity to stay on the field and keep things in momentum. We have to be better.”
Making his TD Place debut as the Redblacks starting quarterback, Brown completed 20 of 33 passes for 247 yards in three quarters of work.
He had no touchdown passes, despite leading Ottawa into position for five field goal attempts, and he also threw one interception that really wasn’t his fault.
The bullet went through the hands of first-round pick Nick Mardner, the towering, 6-foot-6 former Auburn Tiger who has looked good since returning from the New York Giants mini-camp.
Brown said he “has to be better about my frustrations at times”, which suggests there was stuff going on we couldn’t see from the pressbox.
Like Dyce, he took ownership of mistakes made.
“I think as an offence, we can go as far as we allow ourselves to go,” said Brown. “And in my opinion, myself … we all have to be better. And that’s my responsibility, to get guys going.”
Brown’s favourite receiver was Bralon Addison, who caught all six of his targets for 64 yards.
Rookie Khalil Pimpleton grabbed four of seven targets for 65 yards.
The Redblacks have to find a way to keep Pimpleton when they make their cuts on Saturday.
It won’t be easy, as they have a quartet of quality veterans who have 1,000-yard seasons in their resume.
But throughout camp, speedy, 5-foot-8, 163 pounder has been too impressive to lose.
Speaking of small guys, Brown sure looks shorter than the 5-foot-11 at which he is listed. He looks 5-foot-10, tops. Could that be a problem? Absolutely. Doug Flutie was 5-foot-10, but he was also the best scrambling quarterback the CFL has ever seen. Going back another generation, Ron Lancaster was 5-foot-10 — hence the nickname “The Little General” — and Tom Wilkinson was reportedly 5-foot-11. They were merely two of the most prolific QBs in league history.
Brown’s height appeared to be an issue when his first pass of the night was batted down by 6-foot-2 defensive end Jordan Domineck, who also tested the quarterback’s toughness on the second series, when he blew through the left side of the offensive line for a hard sack.
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