The CFL’s iron man Mike Reilly missed the B.C. Lions walkthrough on Friday, but he’ll still start on Saturday in Week 17 against the Toronto Argonauts.
No Mike Reilly at #BCLions walk through today. Feeling under the weather. Will play tomorrow. @CFLonTSN @TSN1040
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) October 4, 2019
Reilly is the only starting quarterback to play ever regular season game so far in 2019. The 34-year-old has passed for 3,615 yards, 15 touchdowns against 15 interceptions while completing just under 70 percent of his attempts.
The Lions paid $2.9 million over four years — $725,000 per season — for Reilly to sign on the dotted line in February. That made the 34-year-old the highest-paid player in the league.
Reilly had thrown for over 5,000 yards in three straight CFL seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos. He threw for a career-high 5,830 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2017, earning the CFL most outstanding player award.
Back in 2015, Reilly led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup championship and earned CFL title game MVP honours. Reilly was originally acquired by the Eskimos in January 2013 when then-general manager Ed Hervey sent two second-round draft picks (2013 and 2014) to B.C. for the QB and the Lions’ second-round selection in 2013.
Reilly apprenticed behind Travis Lulay in B.C. for three seasons, part of the Lions Grey Cup-winning squad in 2011. B.C. has won three games in a row and have slim playoff chances still alive. The Lions must beat the Argos in order to keep the post-season even a small possibility and having Reilly on the field greatly improves those odds.
