Michael Reilly went from throwing ducks to strikes in less than one week, but it was his backup quarterback listing on the pre-game depth chart that has caused controversy outside the organization.
Canadian rookie Nathan Rourke was the No. 1 QB on the Lions roster entering Week 2 against the Calgary Stampeders, although for the second week in a row the second-string signal caller started the game for B.C.
“If anybody thinks that we’re being deceptive, I’m sorry that they think that, but to be quite honest with you, I don’t care. I want to win football games. This is football so get over it because injuries happen and if guys are healthy to play, they’re healthy to play,” Reilly said post-game.
“They wanted us to announce who we thought was starting, so we did. If I was a betting man I would’ve bet that Nathan was going to start, but we were crystal clear on our process, what we were doing and we followed it,” head coach Rick Campbell said.
Reilly and the medical staff were able to get his right elbow to “respond” in a way that allowed the franchise man to run out with the starting offence and play the entire game. According to the six-foot-three, 230-pound pivot, it felt great early, however the problem area tightened late in the night. He was in constant communication with the coaches and Rourke throughout the evening.
“When Michael sees our doctor and he has the ability to control the ball and throw, then we said we were going to play him if he was available. This is pretty unique having another guy take basically all the reps in practice and then Mike comes in,” Campbell said.
“All the way up until warm-ups, I was thinking Nathan’s playing and if Michael plays, it’s a bonus. It was quite a bonus that he was able to make it through the whole thing. Hopefully he keeps getting better.”
The 36-year-old veteran completed 26-of-33 passes (78.8 percent) for 342 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The most impressive throw was a 61-yard laser to CFL all-star receiver Bryan Burnham late in the first quarter. Reilly was rolling to his right, ripped the ball against the grain after seeing Burnham breaking into space and hit his target in the hands.
“On that particular play, I screwed myself into only having one option and it was one of those things where I just didn’t really think about it, I threw it,” Reilly said.
“When it came out how it did and I was able to put it exactly where I wanted it to versus last week not being able to do that, it certainly was a confidence boost: ‘OK, I don’t need to worry about this anymore, I just need to throw the ball.'”
It was the 13th career meeting between Reilly and Bo Levi Mitchell with the older gunslinger earning one back on the Stamps face of the franchise, who leads the head-to-head starts 8-5, with a 15-19 win at McMahon Stadium. While the loss gave Mitchell the first 0-2 start in his career.
“Michael’s out there with a bum elbow and he made some plays, he’s a great quarterback,” Mitchell said.
“I’ve played a ton of football against Bo,” Reilly said, “he’s a great player.”
The Lions are hoping Reilly feels great following their first win of the 2021 season as B.C. evens their record at 1-1, but who starts at quarterback in Week 3 against Edmonton is anyone’s guess.
