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Dru Brown was sipping a cold beer in his locker room when members of the media walked by as he had just finished leading the Ottawa Redblacks to a dominating victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in their regular season finale last week.

“Does it taste good after a match like that?” he was asked.

“A cold beer always tastes good,” Brown responded.

True, but none of us remembered seeing him have one during post-game interviews.

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Turns out that wasn’t the only unusual moment that night for Brown, who passed for 445 yards and three touchdowns in the well-deserved 37-31 victory.

“Dru showed me something I didn’t see from him,” said injured teammate Adarius Pickett. “He showed fire. He showed passion.

“Dru is really quiet, but when he came into the locker room he was yelling, ‘Let’s go! He was excited. I think it was good to see. I think it’s contagious. I think that’s why the offense played the way it did. We saw Dru struggle last week to gain a few (11) yards, so he’s playing a different style of football right now.

The Redblacks might tell you otherwise, but Brown has exceeded expectations in his first year as the number one quarterback in the Canadian Football League.

After a 9-8-1 season that took them to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, the Rouge et Noir surely wouldn’t be where they are without him.

In games Brown started and finished, Ottawa was 8-3.

Despite injuries that kept him out completely in two games and limited him to just 31 throws in three others, he finished third in the nine-team league in passing with 3,959 yards.

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Only Bo Levi Mitchell, who set a Tiger-Cats team record with 5,451 yards, and Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros (4,336) had more.

(I wonder if the Blue Bombers think they traded the wrong guy when they moved Brown, 27, and kept Collaros, who will be 37 next season.)

And, with 845 passing yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions in Brown’s last two games, no QB enters the playoffs hotter.

(Mitchell has 875 yards, six touchdowns and two picks in his last two games, but he won’t make the playoffs.)

Brown’s leadership qualities have been evident since his arrival in Ottawa, but until now, he hasn’t been one to make his voice heard.

Why this change?

“I just think it takes time for me to feel comfortable with my teammates,” Brown said Friday after practice — attended by his wife, mother and dog — and before the flight Redblacks charter to Toronto. “It’s obviously my first year here, and you’re trying to build relationships with people. I’ve never been a fan of people who come in and start booing and screaming, you know?

“It was spontaneous. I have a lot of passion for what we do, and the time and effort it takes, and that kind of showed through.

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Could this resurface as he continues to grow as a leader?

“Without a doubt,” Brown said. “I think with leadership, there are many ways to do that, and it’s constantly evolving and growing.” And be kind to what you feel and what you discern needs to be done or said.

What needs to happen now is for Brown to take another step forward in becoming what he can become – and that’s the best quarterback in the CFL – by giving the Redblacks their first victory on the road in the playoffs in franchise history.

Expect him to be very excited if he does this.

PROTEIN POWER: The key for the Rouge et Noir on Saturday will be keeping Brown clean. It won’t be easy. The Argos led the CFL with 48 sacks. Jake Ceresna, Ralph Holley, Robbie Smith, Folarin Orimolade and Derek Parish all had six or more. “They’re all talented guys, and they all play until the whistle blows,” said Jacob Ruby, who oversees Brown’s blind side as the Redblacks’ left tackle. “They have a lot of second-effort sacks where they keep going and going and either fall into something or beat someone late. You can’t relax when you face them. They are talented and their level of effort is extremely high. Does Ruby, who took over the left tackle job when All-American Dino Boyd suffered a season-ending injury in Week 14, feel extra pressure heading into a playoff game against a group like that? “No,” he said. “We line up and play football.” But before that, there was the pre-match meal on Friday. “We usually change the game in Toronto,” said Ruby, a 6-6, 319-pounder. “We’re going to Morton’s Steakhouse.” Because it’s the playoffs? “It’s true,” he said. This is a good thing for per diems. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ruby snapped.

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SPECIAL EFFORT: Janarion Grant of the Argos, who led the league with nearly 2,000 return yards and scored three touchdowns on kicks and another on a punt, also threatens the existence of the Redblacks of 2024. To limit the damage he causes, Redbacks head coach Bob Dyce says, “You have to be quick, you have to be disciplined,” but he has no intention of keeping the ball away from Grant. “I believe in my guys,” Dyce said. “We are what I consider to be a very good group and, if we do what we need to do, I don’t see any reason why you have to walk away from someone like that.” One member of this group is James Peter, the former Ottawa Gee-Gee linebacker who does excellent work on the Redblacks’ special teams. Of Grant, Peter said: “He’s a great player, but I’ve worked to get this opportunity and play here, haven’t I? I’m facing a talented person, but I’m also talented. I have no pressure or fear from Grant. Respect for his game, but I have to play my game.” Peter also noted that he trained against DeVonte Dedmon and the explosive Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton. “Honestly, I feel like Dedmon is the best, so playing against him and Pimp every day, I feel like I’m preparing to play against a guy like Grant,” he said.

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GO DEEP: Home teams have won seven of the last eight CFL playoff games… No Ottawa team has beaten the Argos in the playoffs since 1977, but it seems worse than it is. Since then, only twice (1982 and 1990) has there been an Ottawa-Toronto post-season confrontation… This is the 16th year since 1919 that Ottawa and Toronto have faced each other in the playoffs. Ottawa is 8-7… That doesn’t include the previous 10 years, when teams played two single-point sets and five single-game playoff games. In the 25 games in total, Ottawa has a record of 14-11… Only one of the six editors of CFL.ca (Kristina Costabile) predicts that the Rouge et Noir will beat the Argos.

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