WINNIPEG — Paul LaPolice never thought he’d be naming rookie Joey Elliott as his starting quarterback, but that’s what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach has been forced to do.
LaPolice confirmed Sunday the 24-year-old Purdue grad will start his first professional game on Saturday when the Bombers (4-12) travel to take on the Edmonton Eskimos (6-10).
The Bombers will also bring in two quarterbacks to back up Elliott, including one he wouldn’t name who was already scheduled to arrive Monday before injuries depleted his pivot bullpen.
Elliott was bumped up to the No. 1 job after starter Steven Jyles and backup Alex Brink both went down with season-ending injuries in Saturday’s 27-8 loss to Toronto that eliminated the Bombers from playoff contention.
“I’ve never seen that in any league,” LaPolice said of the rash of quarterback injuries.
“I never would have thought (we’d be starting our fourth-string quarterback).”
LaPolice said Brink has a broken right collarbone and he didn’t know the exact diagnosis of Jyles’ “pretty serious” right-shoulder injury.
Jyles was hurt late in the first quarter as he was running and tackled by Toronto linebacker Kevin Eiben. Brink was sacked in the third quarter by defensive end Ronald Flemons. He continued playing and completed four-of-five passes before leaving the game.
Buck Pierce, the team’s starter heading into the season, is still recovering from the dislocated elbow he suffered in early September.
The six-foot-two, 216-pound Elliott was signed July 20 after being released the previous month by the NFL Philadelphia Eagles.
Unselected in this year’s NFL draft, Elliott started his senior year at Purdue and passed for 3,026 yards with 22 TDs. “He’s got that savvy leadership as a quarterback,” LaPolice said.
“Even though he doesn’t get a lot of reps, (if) a guy is doing the wrong thing he’ll be in a meeting (and say), ‘Hey, you’re supposed to break this at 12 yards.’
“He’s got that moxie to him. And he sees things and throws the ball.”
LaPolice said the quarterback who’s expected to arrive Monday was somebody they’d been trying to bring up for two weeks since CFL rosters could be increased.
A third pivot will come from a list he admitted isn’t very long, although he agreed experience isn’t a priority since there’s no urgency to win to get into the playoffs.
“I’d like to have some people with some CFL experience here in case something did ever happen to Joey, but we’ll play through that and see where the numbers are for guys,” LaPolice said.
“There isn’t a big list of guys that are available.”
The names of veterans Casey Printers and Kerry Joseph were tossed out, but LaPolice didn’t seem to be leaning that way.
“Unless we can’t get anyone with any experience we may research those guys, but right now we’re trying to keep all our options open and try to get maybe some guys that you could actually look at, too, in practice,” he said.
One QB he confirmed was on the list is Adam DiMichele, who was released by the Bombers in training camp when Brink got the third-string job.
Notes: Offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte may have torn his biceps . . . Safety Ian Logan has a hamstring injury, but LaPolice said he might be good to play against Edmonton.