Canadian quarterback Tre Ford will start in Week 9 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, interim head coach Jarious Jackson told Dave Campbell on 630 CHED in Edmonton.
“It’ll be Tre Ford,” Jackson said definitively. “Tre came in and gave us a spark that we were looking for this past weekend. He deserves an opportunity to lead this team to a win.”
Ford entered in the fourth quarter for McLeod Bethel-Thompson during the Edmonton Elks Week 8 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The 26-year-old completed 11-of-17 passes for 125 with three touchdown passes and ran four times for 22 yards in less than 10 minutes.
“He was ready for this opportunity,” Jackson said. “I thought he went out there and put his best foot forward the other night. Tre did well and scored 20 points within the 20 plays he was on the field. Tre looks amazing because he can get out there and extend plays.”
In 2023, Ford completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 2,069 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. He carried the ball 66 times for 622 yards along with three touchdowns while leading Edmonton to its four wins last season.
The Elks signed veteran QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson for around $500,000 in the offseason. The 36-year-old completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 1,788 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions during an 0-7 start to the season.
“Mac has been up and down the past couple weeks along with dealing with some injuries that he won’t tell anybody about. It’s been hard for him to throw the ball these past couple weeks, dealing and tolerating the pain he’s had. That’s not to make any excuses,” Jackson said.
“He’ll dress. He won’t do a lot this week. He’s been dealing with a lot of injuries. It’s about trying to get him rest, but he’s a true pro and he’s definitely going to support Tre. He’ll be backing Tre up this weekend.”
Bethel-Thompson has thrown for 15,049 yards with 79 touchdowns and 56 interceptions over 81 career CFL games. He earned two East Division all-star selections and won a Grey Cup in 2022, then took a year to play in the United States Football League in 2023.
“I think Mac has definitely helped Tre in a lot of different ways in his growth and becoming a great future quarterback in this league,” Jackson said. “He hadn’t had that in years past as far as being able to learn from a veteran. Mac has rubbed off on him.”
The six-foot-one, 195-pound dual-threat QB, who ran a 4.45 time in the 40-yard dash during the University at Buffalo pro day in 2022, brings electric ability to the football field.
Edmonton (0-7) travels to Mosaic Stadium to take on the Riders on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET.
