JENNINGS TAKES AIM AT HAPPY B.C. RETURN
Redblacks QB says winning comes first as he takes the helm against former team
In a city and a stadium he called home from 2015-18, Jonathon Jennings is hoping to extinguish the B.C. Lions’ faint playoff hopes Friday night.
It sure won’t be easy. Already decimated by injuries, the Ottawa Redblacks will be without receiver Brad Sinopoli and linebacker Avery Williams. Both got hurt during Wednesday’s practice back at home.
Now the starting quarterback for the Redblacks, the 27-yearold Jennings looked like the future for the Lions three seasons ago. But after signing as a free agent in February, he’s now playing for his future in Ottawa — and he’s hoping to help provide a jump-start to his team’s own slim playoff hopes.
“This is where my whole world changed,” Jennings said. “I came in as a rookie. I’d sat out the year before. It was a whirlwind, I became the starting quarterback.”
While playing for the Lions, Jennings lived in Burnaby, Yaletown, then White Rock. Cactus Club Café was a cool go-to spot for him to hang out, he always enjoyed Coal Harbour and he liked taking walks with his wife through Stanley Park.
“I have great memories, some bad ones, too,” Jennings said. “I’ve experienced a lot — good and bad. I don’t want to make this a story. We have an opportunity to try to come in and win a football game — that’s what we need to do, take care of business.”
In 2016, Jennings was a shining star, a beacon. He looked like the Next Big Thing, putting up 5,226 yards in the air and throwing 27 touchdown passes. A separated shoulder a month into the season derailed 2017 for him, and last year the Lions gave the starting job back to Travis Lulay. Now, Jennings — in his second start since the Redblacks removed Dominique Davis from the starting QB job — is hoping to find his way and resuscitate an offence that’s been flatlining much of this season.
“This is an opportunity, something I’ve been busting my butt for,” said Jennings. “You see with guys like (Calgary’s) Bo (Levi Mitchell), it takes time to get back into rhythm. Your eyes start seeing things a bit more clearly.”
The measuring stick for a quarterback’s performance can be harsh. If your team loses, you’re at fault. Even when your team wins, sometimes there are still fingers pointing in your direction.
Said Jennings: “When you’re young, you don’t get as much criticism — you get a longer leash and guys are, ‘Hey, we see potential.’ Once you get a bit older, potential is out the window and it’s ‘what can you do for me now?’ You get to understand it’s a harsh world out there and there’ll be criticism, especially when you’re a starting quarterback. You’ve got (Winnipeg QB) Matt Nichols playing well — they were winning and he was still being criticized for being a game manager. There are things like that all the time, you just have to take it for what it is.
“No one really understands how difficult it is until you sit back there. It’s easy for me to watch film and say, ‘Oh, dang, I wish I would have done this’ or ‘I could have done that.’ It’s not that easy when you have 6-foot-8 guys in front of you and people trying to kill you. It’s a different game than what you see from the stands.”
The Redblacks’ wheels have been spinning. With a 3-8 record, they’ve won just once in their past nine games. A win in BC Place is mandatory. Then the Redblacks will try to do it all over again next week in Ottawa against the Lions — who, with a 1-10 record, obviously have struggles of their own.
“It’s not late at all,” Jennings said. “We’ve got seven games. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy, we’ve made it tough on ourselves. But it’s been done before. We have the right guys, the right attitude, the right character and we have the right skill set. We have to find a way to stop shooting ourselves in the foot — it’s cliché, but we have to find a way to stop that.”
While plenty has gone wrong for the Lions this season, they do have Mike Reilly heaving the ball for them. The all-star quarterback clings to the hope, knowing every snap can make a difference.
“You see it in this league, teams start really poorly and they peak going into the post-season,” Reilly said. “Toronto was 9-9 when they won the Grey Cup, you’ve seen Ottawa get into the playoffs with a losing record and do well in the playoffs (they won the Grey Cup in 2016 with an 8-9-1 regular season) because they played great football toward the end of the season.
“Getting a win for any team on a losing streak releases that burden a bit. We’re in a similar situation to Ottawa in the sense that both teams have shown some really good things, but have also shown the ability to lose games that could have been wins. We know they’re going to be fired up to come in here and try and get back on track and we’re going to do the same.”
SECOND AND LONG: Losing Sinopoli and Williams, two of the team’s better players, is a big blow. Said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell: “It’s a bummer. We didn’t want to risk further injury, we didn’t want to have it turn into some season-ending thing. We’re dealing with some injuries, that’s just the way it is right now.” ... With Williams and Kevin Brown (grandmother’s funeral) away from the team, Ottawa will start Jeff Knox Jr. at middle linebacker and De’Andre Montgomery at the weakside linebacker spot. Said Campbell: “We were going to start Kevin and Avery at linebacker — they’re both unavailable, so (other guys) are going to get their opportunity.” ... Ottawa has 16 players on the sixgame injured list, a staggering number. Said Campbell: “We’re trying to figure it out. We’ve tried to be really smart about not overworking or overtraining. It’s not an excuse, but there’s a pretty good football team on that list.”
... Nick McBeath (Holy Cross), signed last week, will suit up and is listed as the backup to Knox Jr. “He’s a good kid, he’s done really well,” Campbell said. “Obviously, this wasn’t the plan, but it happens in football that you get an opportunity when you least expect it.” THE END AROUND: Ottawa’s (St. Patrick’s High School) Neville Gallimore, a star defensive lineman at the University of Oklahoma, is ranked first in the CFL Scouting Bureau’s fall rankings (for players eligible for the 2020 CFL Draft). Ranked fifth is another great Ottawa college football player — North Carolina DB Patrice Rene, who tore an ACL Saturday and is out for the rest of the season. ... Also in the lineup for the Redblacks on Friday are LB Kevin Francis and WRs Guillermo Villalobos and Wesley Lewis. Out are K Jose Maltos and OL Stephane Nembot. ... Former Guelph Gryphons star Jacob Scarfone starts at receiver. ... Randall Evans is listed as the starting safety (with Antoine Pruneau on the six-game injured list). ... If Ottawa loses and Hamilton wins or ties at Calgary, the Ticats are guaranteed a playoff spot. ... At 30,292 yards, Lions QB Mike Reilly is poised to pass Tom Burgess (No. 16 at 30,308) and Sam Etcheverry (No. 15 at 30,381) on the CFL’s all-time passing list.