So far, so good for Lulay, Lions
Quarterback and his much-discussed shoulder hold up nicely in pre-season loss to Esks
It turned out to be a pretty good night for those who braved the barricades around Thunderbird Stadium and waded their way through the Longest Night Run contestants. Event planners at UBC found a way to route right through a crowd of people trying to get to the site of the B.C. Lions’ second pre-season game Friday.
Despite that dysfunction, it turned out to be a wonderfully intimate, enjoyable, up-close look at a CFL game, the players especially appearing to enjoy the opportunity to interact with their fans throughout the evening, many of them even signing autographs during the game.
And the evening was made incrementally more enjoyable for Lions fans as the first half went on, as quarterback Travis Lulay gave his most talked-about shoulder a full halfgame look with pretty solid results, all things considered. While perhaps there were just 10 points put on the board, there were other opportunities squandered by missed field-goal attempts; and Lulay looked pretty comfortable given it was his first go with the new-look, no-huddle offence that seems largely designed to keep him out of trouble.
He off-loaded the ball quickly, rolled out a fair bit and generally appeared to have shaken off enough rust to make the fact the team won’t play again for another couple weeks far more of a curse than was originally thought — although Lulay admitted there may be some soreness in his arm this weekend after having to put some real mustard on a couple of his throws.
He did get hit a couple of times, but appeared to have been able to make some very quick, anti-instinct decisions to keep himself away from the big hits he’ll be trying to avoid all season.
None of that, however, is going to make this season any easier for Lions fans, who will be holding their breath if not covering their eyes every time he comes remotely close to contact.
It’s going to be that kind of season, that kind of misery for this team’s fans and management for the duration of his career, or until they can find a genuinely suitable backup or replacement for a guy who will be targeted once the season gets going by teams looking to eliminate B.C. from the Grey Cup picture.
They have some promising kids, but they’re not close to any replacement or suitable backup. John Beck is getting over viral hepatitis, but he’s weak as a kitten and will not start the season on the roster. Even when he gets back, he will have had no work with the offence, and he has just 41 career passing attempts in the CFL, such was the ridiculous obsession last year’s coaching staff had with playing Kevin Glenn — who demonstrated to the deaf and blind early on he was taking this team absolutely nowhere. Now it’s new coach Jeff Tedford who must pay the price for that misplaced faith in Glenn. In his hunt for a QB, he probably rightfully shunned experienced re-treads in hopes of finding the next good one.
Greg McGhee showed well in his limited minutes late Friday, his lefthanded arm strong with a very quick release. His overall game has a decided Michael Vick look to it — if one might be that flattering this early — after some of his quick scampers out of a collapsing pocket. Jon Jennings didn’t get up to much in the third quarter and wasn’t nearly as impressive as he was in Calgary last week. But staggering inconsistency should hardly come as a surprise when dealing with players sporting this little experience.
At this point it’s Lulay or bust. And if there’s a bust — and we all know which bust we mean — season-ticket holders will be looking at a second consecutive entire season without a quarterback unless either a recovered Beck, McGhee or Jennings has a miracle up one of his sleeves.
No QB means no offence, ergo no entertainment — hardly the way to compete with the Whitecaps and Seahawks for the affection of Vancouver sports fans.
In the meantime, just keep praying Lulay stays healthy.