LULAY IS BACK — BUT NOT ALL THE WAY
DECISION LOOMS: Injured Lulay nearing return but Jennings has been a revelation as the team’s signal caller
Travis Lulay has been cleared to practise with the B.C. Lions, but he’s not ready to play, which means rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings gets the start against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
For the Lions and head coach Jeff Tedford, that’s the easy part. Sadly, it doesn’t make for much of a column. As for the hard part, it might still be a couple of weeks away, but it offers something a tad more compelling.
“We’ll have to take it day to day and week to week,” Tedford said Tuesday when asked about his starting quarterback for the duration of this season. “It’s hard to say right now.”
That’s OK. We’re not going anywhere while this plays out.
It says something about this Lions’ season that they’re a lot more interesting off the field than they are on it and the looming competition between Lulay and Jennings will be appointment viewing for the team’s supporters.
You have the 32-year-old Lulay, the former MOP and face of the franchise whose career has been derailed by injuries, but is now ready to return. You have Jennings, the 23-year-old ingenue who’s provided one of the few bright spots in a dismal Lions’ season in his two appearances.
It is a timeless storyline, as old as the game itself, and its resolution will likely determine the Lions’ season as well as the immediate future of the franchise. So there wasn’t a lot to report on Tuesday, as the Lions began their practice week for the Riders.
But, like a number of things with this team, that will change very soon.
“Travis and I are great friends and there’s nothing stopping us from competing each day,” said Jennings. “All we can do is put our best foot forward. That’s what he does every day and I try to do the same. Whatever scenario comes into play, we’ll just roll with it.”
It’s barely been four weeks since Lulay suffered a sprained left knee against the Montreal Alouettes but, in that time, the Lions’ quarterbacking situation has undergone seismic changes. It started with the short-lived John Beck era, who made three forgettable starts before he was injured in Calgary on Sept. 18.
The Lions then turned to Jennings and, if he hasn’t been a complete revelation in his six quarters of work, he’s opened some eyes. Against the Stampeders he threw for 252 yards in just over two quarters. Last Saturday in Edmonton, he went 18 of 30 for 281 yards and two touchdowns in his first-ever CFL start against the league’s best defence.
Unfortunately, the Lions couldn’t hold a 16-point, third-quarter lead Jennings helped provide but, in his two games, he’s given a huge lift to the plodding offence and the team has rallied around their rookie quarterback.
As for the fans’ response, that’s another layer to this drama. Jennings will make his first home start Saturday and the lower bowl at B.C. Place will be at or near capacity. On top of everything else that’s gone wrong this season, the Lions are suffering their worst attendance numbers since 2002. Jennings, at the very least, offers the hope that things will get better. But what of Lulay? It’s almost forgotten now but The Montana Kid was off to a decent start in 2015 until a lopsided loss to Hamilton on Aug. 15. In his first six starts, the Lions were 3-3 and Lulay enjoyed a huge day against the Roughriders (404 passing yards) and engineered a late, game-winning touchdown drive against the Eskimos.
The next week, however, the Lions were depantsed by Hamilton before another subpar outing at home against Montreal. Now Lulay’s back, or pretty close to it, and the least you can say is his presence makes things interesting.
It’s not that there’s a problem between the two quarterbacks. Jennings and Lulay have been rooming together since training camp and Lulay, as always, is a team-first guy. On Tuesday, he talked about the positive effect veterans Drew Brees and Matt Hasselbeck had on him during his NFL career. He regards mentoring as part of the job. “That’s part of the role,” said Lulay, who ran the scout team on his first day back at practice. “When I was a backup guy, my expectation was we’re all doing this for the guy on the field. Whether you’re playing or not, that shouldn’t change.”
He’s also a fan of Jennings and the way the younger man conducts himself. Lulay, who’s always had the look of a future coach about him, could be instrumental in Jennings’ development.
But he still wants to play and there’s only one ball.
“You have to be a pro,” Lulay said. “It really is step by step for me right now. This is Step 1.”
Fair enough, but those next couple of steps are going to be watched closely.