Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Ottawa Redblacks to start firing coaches, despite a 1-6-1 start to their CFL season.

When asked if that was something he’d consider, Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins on Monday answered. “No. I wouldn’t say I would never consider it. But it’s not a consideration now and I don’t anticipate it being one this season. There are instances where sometimes you have to do things, but I’m talking in terms of future years. I don’t see anything happening this year.”

There were a couple of player casualties announced early Monday morning — defensive backs Imoan Claiborne and CJ Roberts. It was surprising to see the departure of Claiborne, who had 26 tackles and an interception in six games. He may have been the team’s best DB in training camp.

“It comes down to what he was doing on the field,” Desjardins said. “He did a lot of good things for us, but at the end of the day, we thought we had to be better at that spot. He wasn’t the same guy he was in camp. Jonathan Rose, Nick Taylor, Winston Rose, there are options.”

“I like him as a person, it’s always disappointing to give someone that news,” coach Rick Campbell said. “We just decided going forward he wasn’t in the long-term plans.”

It seemed like there might be another move made, maybe bring back former Redblacks DB Mitchell White, who was released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but there have been no talks.

Said Desjardins: “Never say never. But he’s not somebody we’re actively trying to sign right now. He’s got to see what’s out there NFL-wise before we even go down that path so we’ll just let it takes its course.”

You could break it down position by position and almost everywhere, the Redblacks haven’t been good enough. It has been a breakdown here, a breakdown there and an incredible run of near misses.

Said Desjardins: “Across the board, we haven’t been good enough. Period. I think the talent’s there in most instances, but we just haven’t been good enough.

“We’ve not been that far off. I would say the game against Edmonton (a 27-20 loss last Thursday) was the game we were least deserving of being in late in the game. All the other ones, we were right there. We’ll obviously continue to tweak things. Guys just have to make plays in clutch moments. We haven’t been able to do that.

“It’s frustrating when they’re self-inflicted wounds that cost us losses. In many cases, it’s coming from guys should be able to do more within the moment, meaning guys who have been here. It’s not the young guys who are making some of those mistakes.”

ADDING A WEAPON

It was a full go for receiver Kenny Shaw at practice yesterday. Shaw, signed as a free agent after 77 catches for 1,004 yards last season in Toronto, has been hampered by leg injuries, playing in just part of one game.

“I’m good to go,” Shaw said. “It didn’t feel real until today, my first day back. Rust isn’t an issue, it’s more the mental game.”

“He’d be a big addition this week,” Desjardins said. “He does a lot of things well, which is why we signed him. He just hasn’t been healthy enough to be able to contribute to this point.”

It looks like Shaw will be in for Cody Hoffman when Ottawa faces the Ticats in Hamilton on Friday.

NICK OF TIME

Defensive back/SAM linebacker Nick Taylor was back at practice on Monday. With Taylor out, the Redblacks shifted safety Antoine Pruneau to SAM, then gave Adrian James a shot last week. Said Campbell: “Nick’s a very sharp guy, he’s able to communicate very well.”

Said Taylor: “I’m feeling good. My knee’s feeling good, the body’s feeling good, it’s just about getting back into game shape.”

Taylor said what’s been happening to the Redblacks goes back to Week 1: “We’re not finishing games like we should, not putting teams away when we have the chance. It goes back to when we were up 28-14 against Calgary with seven minutes left in the game and we didn’t put our foot down on their throats. That’s carried on, we have to change that.”

THE D-LINE UPDATE

The Redblacks are hoping to get both Connor Williams (concussion) and Jonathan Newsome (hamstring) into the defensive line rotation, but the wait continues.

“It’s been slow,” Desjardins said. “They’re taking longer than we hoped. But we can’t rush it. We need to be prudent. Jonathan should be out here doing a bit. We have to take it day by day.”

THE END AROUND

We’ll say it again, the Redblacks messed up on their (lack of) tribute to former Rough Riders star linebacker Soupy Campbell, who died last week. Apparently, there was a small scoreboard mention 15 minutes or so before game time. Soupy should have gotten a mention (and a moment of silence) right before the national anthem. And I don’t buy the excuse that the team didn’t want to detract from its Canadian Armed Forces tribute. That’s B.S. ... Austin Reuland is back with the Redblacks after taking some time to attend to “personal matters.” ... Running backs William Powell and Mossis Madu Jr. were both getting plenty of reps Monday ... The Redblacks will have a QB Club on Tuesday from 6-8 p.m., at Ralph’s, 1571 Bank St. Taylor Reed, Jerrell Gavins, SirVincent Rogers and Joshua Stangby are scheduled to appear.

tbaines@postmedia.com