Manziel chants get Adams’ back up
Quarterback ‘hurt’ Alouettes fans didn’t even wait until halftime last week to call for Manziel
It’s not like Montreal Alouettes quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. had a particularly awful game on Thursday night in a 44-23 home loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.
He completed 15 of 28 passes for 217 yards and an interception, which isn’t all that great, but he also led the team with 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries as 1-5 Montreal tied its season high for points. Coach Mike Sherman even said Adams “played well enough to win,” even if he was sacked six times behind a weak offensive line.
Nevertheless, the crowd of 16,654 at Molson Stadium were calling for Adams’ backup as early as the second quarter, with chants of “Johnny! Johnny! Johnny!” and “We want Johnny!” filling the air.
Yeah, it’s that Johnny: Johnny Manziel, whom the Alouettes acquired in a Canadian Football League trade from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 22. And Adams, another former Ticats QB, wasn’t pleased that the fans were letting their preference be known (some of them even had purchased Manziel jerseys).
“Yes, it hurt me to hear that. I have nothing more to say or to give to the supporters of Montreal. Never again,” Adams told La Presse, per TSN’s translation. “Their behaviour was very disrespectful. It was not like I was playing badly. I do not want them to ask me for anything, not even a small piece of equipment.
“I do not care what the situation is. It was a lack of respect, and it affected me,” Adams continued. “I tried anyways to make plays on the field. But that’s fine. In the future, I’ll treat the fans as they treated me. That’s all.”
That actually might be all for Adams in Montreal, at least in the short term. Manziel, who never saw the field for the TigerCats over their first six games and last played a professional football game with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns in December 2015, took the majority of the first-team reps during practice on Monday. The Alouettes made the announcement Tuesday that Manziel will be their starter Friday night when they host the Tiger-Cats, the team that just traded him.
“We didn’t trade for Johnny to have him sit on the bench. Obviously, he’s come here to get reps; to become the best player he can become. We started that process today,” Sherman said, per the Gazette. “You’ve all probably figured it out yourselves. At the same time, when you have two players (fairly equal), you probably wait until game time to make that announcement. It doesn’t make sense to do it any sooner.
“I’ve never ever talked about who’s starting and who’s not. Why would I do that? The best one that’s going to help us win will probably start.”
Adams’ frustration may stem from the fact that Manziel is about to cost him his second CFL job. The Tiger-Cats released him in June, ostensibly because they had signed Manziel to a two-year contract. Adams then signed with the Alouettes as a free agent, only to watch the team trade for Manziel. Before Thursday night’s game, he even seemed to accept the fact that he would soon become the team’s backup, offering up much more measured comments than the “never again” diatribe he delivered after the loss.
“Everybody knows Johnny didn’t come here to sit. They didn’t pay him just to sit. I understand he’s coming here to play,” Adams said. “As of right now, the Alouettes are 1-4. I’m worried about winning a game. I’m not worried about what Johnny’s doing.
“Coach gave me the start. I’m going to come out here, do my best, lead this team, be efficient on second down and just have fun. When I have fun, I play my best.”