Mike O'Shea takes issue with Milt Stegall suggesting Zach Collaros should retire

Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea is clearly unhappy that Milt Stegall called for Zach Collaros to retire after the veteran quarterback suffered an injury during his team’s loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Banjo Bowl.

“I think because of that powerful voice, he should probably choose his words a lot more carefully than he did. He’s not qualified to make those decisions (for Collaros) or certainly doesn’t know what’s going on (with the quarterback’s health). I’m not qualified either but I have a little more insight into the situation,” O’Shea told Derek Taylor on 680 CJOB.

“When you make those pretty brash statements and you make them quickly in the spur of the moment, you’re not considering his family or his people that care about him when you make those statements. I think maybe a little more care and concern should have went in before announcing to the world and creating clickbait, getting your likes up.”

Collaros was injured during the third quarter of Saturday’s game when Saskatchewan blitzed seven defenders against six Winnipeg blockers. Defensive back C.J. Reavis came unblocked off the edge and levelled the veteran quarterback, causing a fumble. Though the play initially went unpenalized, Winnipeg successfully challenged for roughing the passer when replay showed Reavis made helmet-to-helmet contact.

The 37-year-old passer jogged of the field after laying on the turf for some time and didn’t return. It marked the third time that Collaros has been forced to leave a game due to injury this season, the first two of which were later termed neck injuries by the team.

Stegall, who has been a panelist with the CFL on TSN for almost 20 years, didn’t mince words in his postgame analysis of the situation.

“As far as Zach goes, I’m going to look at it from a standpoint of if that was my son, he wouldn’t step on the field again,” said Stegall. “He’s retired, that’s it. He’s never playing another down of football.”

O’Shea, who often refuses to provide updates on injured players, declined to supply any information on this latest injury to Collaros, even going as far as to suggest fans shouldn’t be entitled to such data.

“This is personal information,” he said. “I am completely against the idea of announcing to the world personal injury information for the sake of the betting public or the fans, that’s where I stand. I can argue that all day long — I don’t think it’s worth it — but you shouldn’t understand what he’s dealing with injury-wise or any player, really. It shouldn’t be made public, that’s the way I feel.”

It remains unclear if Collaros will be available to play when the Blue Bombers visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night. Regardless, O’Shea doesn’t want people speculating about the health of his franchise quarterback.

“I just urge people to not speculate and let the professionals do their job. We trust our medical staff and so does Zach,” said O’Shea. “We should care for the person and always wish them the best and go from there.”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-6) will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-5) on Friday, September 12 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Blue Bombers are coming off a 21-13 loss to Saskatchewan in the Banjo Bowl, while the Tiger-Cats went on the road to beat Montreal 26-9.

The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for a high of 22 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud and a 30 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 680 CJOB in Winnipeg and the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.

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