The Ottawa Redblacks mounted an impressive comeback effort late in their week one preseason game against the Toronto Argonauts, but head coach Paul LaPolice isn’t entirely satisfied with where his team is just yet.
LaPolice is far from upset with what he saw from his offence on Friday night, but he knows there is potential for more. The Redblacks starting offence scored just seven points, coming off a punt single on their first drive, and a touchdown pass from Jeremiah Masoli to Jaelon Acklin on their final drive. They moved the ball down the field effectively, but ultimately, they couldn’t get the points on the board that LaPolice hoped for.
“I just get disappointed when there are points left on the field,” LaPolice said. “We moved the ball, we had tonnes of yardage, but we’ve gotta put the ball in the endzone more. There were some things we missed in some of our reads, and we definitely could have gotten. We just have to make sure we clean that up.”
“We had a couple more touchdowns that were easy for us,” LaPolice said. “It’s just what we have to get better at.”
Related: Masoli Hopeful Redblacks’ Preseason Win Will Help Build Winning Culture
LaPolice stressed that he wasn’t disappointed with his offence or his team to start the preseason. He saw plenty of good things that his team can build on, and he’s excited to see how they progress before their second preseason game.
“But I’m happy,” said LaPolice. “They did some [good things]. They took the ball out of the back of the endzone twice and flipped the field. They went on two scoring drives at the end of the game to climb back, and they responded after a pick-six to win the game. There were a lot of good things, but a lot of things we have to get better at too.”
The Redblacks have a roster filled with players coming in from different systems, and teams from around the league, so it’s no shock that it could take them a few preseason games to get into the swing of things. Don’t tell that to LaPolice, however, he’s not willing to use that as an excuse.
“I try to not let that matter,” LaPolice said. “As I told them yesterday, we’ve had enough reps. You gotta go make your plays. We gotta raise our expectations.”
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