Travis Lulay showed he can still play at a high level in 2017.
Lulay threw for 1,693 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. But a season-ending knee injury suffered on September 8 against Montreal cut the campaign short.
“The rehab is going. It’s slow and steady wins the race in rehab. I’ve been down this road before, so I know how to mentally prepare myself. I’m starting to jog again, let that foot strike off the ground a little bit. I’ll tell you what having been on crutches for while and limping around to walking steady, it feels good to feel like a little bit of an athlete again,” Lulay said on TSN 1040 in Vancouver.
“I’m probably on track. Any time you’re talking ACL/meniscus they say it’s nine or 10 months, give or take time on either side of that. I’m catching back up to where I ought to be at this stage. You are where your body tells you…I’m on a fine timeline that doesn’t have me concerned about the long run.”
Lulay has played nine seasons, all in B.C., passing for 18,858 yards, 113 touchdowns against 64 interceptions with a 63.9 completion rate and 94.2 QB rating. The Montana State product won the CFL MOP award in 2011 while leading the Lions to a Grey Cup victory at B.C. Place that same season. The 34-year-old is a pending free agent and he wants to get healthy to give himself the opportunity to suit up again.
“I’ve been very committed to rehabbing to keep that option very much open. That was my approach. Do I want to play? Absolutely. I had just a blast out there last year and I felt like I was playing well, so there’s a strong pull to want to play again,” Lulay said.
“At the same time, you have to sit down and be honest with yourself and say is your body trying to tell you something? There’s some of that that still needs to play out. I have very open lines of communication with the club. It’s been pleasingly optimistic the last little while to start to move and feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. If my body agrees with me and all those things, then yeah I would love to see that through. Right now I’m optimistic, I’m feeling pretty good.”
After suffering two shoulder setbacks in 2014, Lulay has gone through a full self-evaluation at the end of every year.
“After the 2014 season when I thought maybe I might be done and the Lions threw me a lifeline and said, ‘We think you got some life left in ya, if you can heal up we still want you to be a part of the organization’. But at that stage, I said I was going to critically evaluate every year, whether I have the mental and physical capacity to go through a season,” Lulay said.
“I’m still coming out of that process right now after the way the season ended last year is gearing up to put a plan in action for the coming year.”
