Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke will officially make his return to the starting lineup on Saturday, B.C. Lions’ head coach Buck Pierce has confirmed. The news was first reported by TSN’s Farhan Lalji.
Rourke hasn’t played a snap since Week 2 when he suffered an oblique injury against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, despite dressing as the team’s third stringer in consecutive games. He was listed as a game-time decision in Week 4 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders but didn’t see any action at Mosaic Stadium.
According to reports, Rourke has taken all the first-team reps this week despite being listed as limited and has even been throwing deep, something he was unable to do a week ago. The 27-year-old has thrown for 573 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception this season, going 1-1 as a starter.
Pierce also confirmed that Canadian defensive end Mathieu Betts will play this week despite being limited throughout the week and taking no reps on Saturday. American linebacker Josh Woods is also expected to make his return from a torn ACL suffered last year, while receiver Stanley Berryhill III will be back after missing two weeks with a thigh injury.
B.C. officially ruled out six players for this week: defensive back Tyler Coyle (thigh), defensive tackle DeWayne Hendrix (thigh), linebacker Jeremy Lewis (foot), receiver Seven McGee (thigh), offensive lineman Tyler Packer (head), and defensive tackle Jonah Tavai (calf).
The B.C. Lions (1-3) will visit the Montreal Alouettes (3-1) at Percival Molson Stadium on Saturday, July 5 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The weather forecast calls for a high of 25 degrees with a mix of sun and clouds and a 30 percent chance of showers.
The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and on CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 730 CKNW in Vancouver and TSN 690 in Montreal.
