It won’t take long for quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to pay a visit to the team that recently dealt him away.
The B.C. Lions acquired Adams from the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 31 in exchange for a 2023 first-round draft pick. On Friday night, Adams is expected to make his Lions debut against the host Alouettes.
It is unknown whether Adams or Antonio Pipkin will start the game for the Lions (8-2), but coach Rick Campbell said he expects Adams to play “in some fashion” on Friday.
The Lions had to make a deal for a quarterback after starter Nathan Rourke went down with a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot amid of an MVP-caliber season. Rourke led the CFL in passing touchdowns (25), passing yards (3,281), completions (248) and completion percentage (79.2 percent) at the time of his injury.
Second-stringer Michael O’Connor went down with a groin injury on Aug. 26 when the Lions (8-2) lost 23-16 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Pipkin, who also used to play for the Alouettes, was B.C.’s only other option before the deal for Adams.
Adams, who was Cooper Kupp’s quarterback at Eastern Washington, has thrown for 6,988 yards, 43 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in seven CFL seasons between Montreal and Saskatchewan.
“I’m honored and blessed this worked out,” Adams told the Lions’ website. “I’m here to help out any way I can. I want to help keep this train rolling and hold it down until (Rourke) gets back.”
While B.C. is coming off a bye week, the Alouettes (4-7) will try to recover from a 38-24 home loss to the Ottawa Redblacks last Friday.
The Alouettes let Ottawa quarterback Nick Arbuckle throw for 313 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-31 passing. Montreal’s defense failed to record a sack.
“The goal is sacks,” defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe said, per the Montreal Gazette. “No question, sacks affect drives. And sacks affect scoring. It takes the offense off the field and puts them in second-and-long situations.
“If you look at that game, we had five (pass) knockdowns, three at the line of scrimmage. When the offense’s getting the ball out that quickly, we have to do something.”
–Field Level Media