Lions' Vernon Adams Jr. all but secures starting role in dominant return

VANCOUVER — When Vernon Adams Jr. made the first throw in his return to the B.C. Lions lineup, it looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat.

The quarterback, who was sidelined with a knee injury on Aug. 2 then ceded the starting quarterback position back to Nathan Rourke, took to the field for the first play of the game Saturday against the Montreal Alouettes and promptly completed a 43-yard pass to Justin McInnis. 

Adams Jr. started the sequence that would eventually end with the first of three Lions touchdowns. It had to be a small sigh of relief for a team that desperately needed to solve its late-season skid. 

He also all but secured his spot on the field come playoff time. 

The 31-year-old led his team to a 27-3 stomping of the Alouettes, his return performance demonstrating why he was in the running for the CFL's most outstanding player award prior to his injury.

"They know how much I've put on and off the field, just put into this," an emotional Adams Jr. said post-game, crediting his teammates for his successful return. "I've done nothing but try to give my all to this organization and they see that. It means a lot that they have my back.

"Honestly, I just want to play good ending this year. I just want to play good and give my team a chance to win. Help the defence out, give them a rest, move the ball, flip the field, and just score points."

The 31-year-old had 385 yards on 27-for-37 passing with three touchdowns. Combined with wide receivers Keon Hatcher and McInnis, the Lions’ offence got the spark they needed after scoring just eight points in an ugly loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last time out.

The quarterback's most impressive moment came in the first quarter with the Lions already leading by seven. He found Stanley Berryhill deep at the eight-yard line, and the receiver then ran it into the Alouettes end zone for a whopping 52-yard touchdown. They don’t call him ‘Big Play VA’ for nothing. 

From the moment he stepped on the field, however, he wasn't focused on the big plays.

"I just always told myself breathe, breathe, make sure my feet are calm, not too chattery and just keep going through my reads, and that's all I tried to do."

It was a great game by all accounts for Adams Jr., but not without faults. He was sacked once by Tyrell Richards and threw a dangerous interception in the third quarter, which was returned for 22 yards. 

He also knows that as a whole, the Lions didn’t quite hit their offensive ceiling in their season finale — they have a bye in the final week.

“The good thing about it is there are still things to clean up,” Adams Jr. said. “(We're) just not finishing. We want to finish better. We want to put up more points than we did — we know in the playoffs, we’ll have to put up 30 points to win a game against these good teams we’re playing, so, it’s a good start to the new season.”

Both ends of the field saw significant improvement over their last performance, their defence stifling the Alouettes, particularly in the red zone.

They held the CFL leaders to just three points and stumped quarterbacks Cody Fajardo and Davis Alexander, who combined for 134 yards and 18-for-25 passing. 

"VA deserves a ton of credit, but I'm happy that everybody showed up, and showed up with zest and enthusiasm," head coach Rick Campbell said. "Montreal ... was really trying to get after us, and we made them pay."

"It's about making plays in key moments and our guys did that on offence, defence and special teams. Makes the game more fun when you can make plays to tip it in your favour."

Win aside, virtually nobody is lobbying to plan the parade on the tail of this performance. The Alouettes (12-4-1) wrapped up top spot in the East long ago and had nothing to play for, except maybe to get some reps in ahead of the playoffs. 

The Lions (9-9), meanwhile, were locked into third place and a road game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers or Roughriders in the West semifinal on Nov. 2, regardless of Saturday's outcome.

Still, ending the season on a high note has to give the Grey Cup host Lions some confidence that they can tackle the tall task ahead, despite some regular-season hiccups. 

Give credit where it is due — the Lions played well and they were rewarded, even if not in the standings. 

As for their playoff quarterback situation, Campbell is focused on giving his team the best chance to succeed, relying on the momentum created Saturday to try to steal a win on the road.

"I want to give him an opportunity to finish what he started," Campbell said about committing to Adams Jr. "That's something I talked to him about, and we'll go from there."

Given the performance he delivered on Saturday, there's no reason he shouldn't be on the field for the West semi.

NOTES: Reaching 1,465 yards, McInnis should become the first Canadian since 2010 to lead the CFL in receiving yards. He also is the first Canadian to hit the 1,400 mark in a single-season since Calgary's Dave Sapunjis hit 1,650 in 1995… Adams Jr. now improves to 3-0 against his former team, with whom he played between 2016-17, then again between 2018-22 … Alexander, who came on in the second half in place of Fajardo, was handed his first loss of the season in his first game against the Lions… The Lions' William Stanback added 28 rushing yards against his former team before an injury forced him out of the game, moving him to second in the CFL behind only Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira. Campbell told reporters they don't consider the injury serious.