VANCOUVER — Vernon Adams Jr. said it was a tough season when the BC Lions decided to keep Nathan Rourke at quarterback, even after he recovered from an injury.

“It really devastated me,” Adams said Monday as the Lions cleaned out after a disappointing 28-19 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Saturday’s CFL West semifinal.

The Lions began the season with hopes of participating in the Gray Cup game which will take place at BC Place Stadium on November 17. After starting the season 5-1, the Lions struggled to a 9-9 record and third place in the West.

“It wasn’t the ending we wanted,” Adams said.

Adams opened the season as the Lions’ starter and had an MVP ranking before injuring his knee in an Aug. 1 loss to Winnipeg. While recovering, Canadian-born quarterback Nathan Rourke returned to the Lions after failing to find a job in the NFL.

Carrying the weight of high expectations and trying to shake off the rust of not playing regularly for 18 months, Rourke lost his first two starts.

Even when Adams was healthy, Rourke continued as a starter, finishing the year with a 3-5 record. Rick Campbell, BC’s co-general manager and head coach, decided to start Adams in the Lions’ final game of the season, a victory over the Montreal Alouettes and the Riders in the playoffs.

Adams said he knew that after being traded to the Montreal Lions in 2022, his role was to keep the team in playoff contention while Rourke recovered from injury. He understood that Rourke would be the starter once he was healthy again.

“I felt like it was going to be the same this year, but it wasn’t,” said Adams, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions against the Riders. “When I came back and they told me they didn’t know if I was going to get my place back, it completely devastated me.

“I wasn’t going to whine and complain about it. I had to come to work every day with a smile on my face.”

The decision to stick with Rourke may have caused “a little bit” of division in the Lions locker room, Adams said.

“I don’t think it was that bad because the guys knew we were a better team with him. I tried to defuse the situation and let the guys know that’s what it was.”

Campbell said he thought he did what was best for the Lions by keeping Rourke, 2022’s most outstanding Canadian, at quarterback.

“I will always think and try to learn,” Campbell said. “I was trying to be very thoughtful in doing what I thought was best for the team. I always stick to my story.

“I don’t think the quarterbacks were the problem, either of those guys. I just think as a group as a whole we needed to be better.”

Rourke called Adams a great leader and said it was a difficult situation for both players.

“I don’t think we ask that kind of stuff if we’re still playing or if my times have improved,” Rourke said.

“I think I did the best I could with what I had. It’s hard to have regrets about this.

Adams finished the season completing 197 of 302 passes for 2,929 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Rourke completed 136 of 209 passes for 1,781 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions.

During the season, the Lions often looked like a car seeking traction while spinning its tires on a slippery road. BC had both a five-game winning streak and a five-game losing streak.

“I don’t think we were consistent enough,” Campbell said.

Questions are being asked about Campbell’s future. In four seasons, he posted a 38-30 record. After missing the playoffs in its first year, BC finished second in the division in 2022 and 2023, losing the West Final to Winnipeg both years.

The fate of Campbell and Neil McEvoy, BC’s co-general manager and director of football operations, will be decided in meetings over the coming weeks with owner Amar Doman and team president Duane Vienneau.

The team will have 33 free agents, including Justin McInnis, the CFL’s leading receiver, and defensive end Mathieu Betts, the 2023 MVP who also returned to the Lions this summer after participating in a tryout. in the NFL.

“The team that played Saskatchewan on Saturday, that’s the last time they’ll be together,” McEvoy said. “There is going to be change. That’s what we need to do over the next month, figure out what’s the best step moving forward.”

Campbell said it’s unlikely the Lions will be able to keep Rourke and Adams next season.

Adams hopes to learn more about his future after the Gray Cup.

“I want to have a say in where I go if they trade me,” he said.

Rourke said he plans to become a Lion next year.

“I think this group would agree that there is a lot left on the table,” he said. “We have to find ways to improve.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 4, 2024.