If it wasn’t for bad luck, the Ottawa Redblacks might not have any luck at all.
On Wednesday afternoon, the team announced that second-year quarterback Tyrie Adams will miss the remainder of the 2023 season with an ACL injury.
The news comes on the heels of Adams’ first career start, a 26-7 win over the visiting Edmonton Elks in which the 26-year-old completed 70 percent of his passes for 185 yards and a touchdown.
It appears as though Adams was injured when Edmonton Elks’ defensive lineman Jake Ceresna was penalized for hitting him low during the fourth quarter. The officials correctly threw a flag for roughing the passer, which kept the drive alive, but the ensuing touchdown proved to be costly. It does not appear as though Adams was injured celebrating Marco Dubois’ touchdown first quarterback as has been speculated online.
Although he wound up taking the final snap of the game with the team in victory formation, it was actually rookie quarterback Dustin Crum who was under centre on the game’s final drive. The fact that the injury wasn’t evident during the final few minutes likely came as a result of Adams being full of adrenaline at the time.
The injury is a crushing blow to a promising young player who had parlayed a strong pre-season showing into an exciting first professional performance. Adams looked excellent against the Elks, making good decisions and keeping Edmonton’s defence off-balance thanks to his ability to move around the pocket.
Aside from the obvious fact that the injury will delay his development, it also highlights the importance of veteran Jeremiah Masoli returning to the field a year after sustaining a fractured leg. Masoli is clearly not being rushed back as Ottawa allowed him to sit for their first three games of the year.
With Adams out for the season, there’s now even more pressure on Masoli to not only stay healthy, but perform at a high level. As things stand, Crum and veteran Nick Arbuckle are the only other quarterbacks currently on the roster. Given that most teams normally only carry three quarterbacks, it shouldn’t be assumed that Ottawa will add to the position. The main reason they had carried four to this point is because of how much they believed in their two young pivots: Adams and Crum.