VANCOUVER, BC - JULY 21: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats play the BC Lions in their CFL game at BC Place July 21, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/BC Lions)
It was indicated as part of the plan as early as two weeks ago and on Tuesday afternoon, head coach Rick Campbell made it official: Nathan Rourke is back. With the regular season finale in Winnipeg set for Friday night and nothing to play for in terms of playoff seeding, the Lions also have the luxury of easing him back into a routine. Campbell
“He made it through (practice fine). We expect him to start and play a full quarter,” Campbell said in his post-practice media availability.
For the first time since suffering a Linsfranc foot sprain which required surgery following week 11 of the season, Rourke was officially listed as a full participant on the club’s injury report on Tuesday. Vernon Adams Jr., coming off perhaps his best performance as a Lion in last week’s victory at Edmonton, is expected to get the majority of the remaining reps. against the Blue Bombers. Come playoff time, he will still be a valuable commodity to have on the roster and in the quarterback room.
It says plenty about how these players respect one another when you consider Adams Jr. received a phone call from Rourke almost immediately after his trade from Montreal.
As for Rourke’s return, it’s a testament to the determination of Rourke to heal fastly but responsibly that he’s able to parachute in and lead these motivated Lions on their run to the Grey Cup.
“Yeah, I’m excited to get back. It’s been it’s fun to feel like part of the team again and continue to go to practice and do all that stuff,” said the quarterback following a full practice.
“I’m just happy to be able to have the chance to play and I think this all of this week is a bonus for sure. I think that throughout the process, we were pretty sure that we were going to be able to play in the playoff game and wait and see about anything else. To be at this point is pretty cool.”
Prior to going down in the third quarter of a win in Saskatchewan, the Victoria-born gunslinger was the talk of the CFL. Rourke led the league in every major passing category including completions (248) passing yards (3,281) and passing touchdowns (25).
With a 436- yard performance in a win over Toronto in week three, Rourke broke Gerry Dattilio’s 41-year-old single-game passing record for Canadian quarterbacks. Rourke would then break his own record in back-to-back weeks with 477 yards in an August 6 win over Edmonton and 488 yards in a thrilling comeback victory at Calgary.
Not a bad reinforcement with the Grey Cup journey officially beginning at home against the Stampeders on Sunday, November 6.
Rourke was also a force in the running game with 304 yards and seven touchdowns on 24 total carries.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com