Vernon Adams Jr. throws 3 touchdowns as Lions win final pre-season game
In his first pre-season start for the B.C. Lions, Vernon Adams Jr. said he felt like time slowed down.
He went 12 for 12 and led three touchdown drives as the B.C. Lions survived a late comeback bid from the Calgary Stampeders to eke out a 25-22 win.
“It's probably the first time in my career (I felt like that),” he said. “I just felt like I was seeing everything very clear tonight and it helped me get the ball out quick tonight.”
Adams earned the starting quarterback role for the Lions after Canadian Nathan Rourke departed to the NFL in the off-season.
He arrived midway through last season after a major injury to Rourke, with the Lions sending a first-round pick to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange.
Adams had 1,504 passing yards with eight touchdowns and one interception in eight games with the Lions last season.
He spoke repeatedly during training camp about establishing a connection with his receivers and giving them an opportunity to shine.
“It felt like we were there. Like I said, I might have thrown a little to their back shoulder,” he said after Thursday's game. “I'm going to make these guys runners so they catch it on the run. These guys are playmakers.”
Head coach Rick Campbell said he was pleased with both how Adams managed the playcalling as well as adapting on the fly.
“He made some off-script plays, buying time with his feet, running for a first or buying time and finding an open guy,” he said. “It was good to see him in a rhythm and feeling good about things.”
Kieran Burnham kicked the game-winner as the Lions' offensive drives faded in the second half with backup quarterbacks Dane Evans and Dom Davis failing to establish a rhythm.
Justin McInnis led the way in scoring for the Lions receiving corps, catching two touchdowns along with three receptions for 60 yards in the first half.
Only Dominique Rhymes had more, with five receptions for 83 yards and one touchdown.
“I had two big catches for touchdowns,” McInnis said after the game when asked if he made a statement with his performance. “I just couldn't wait for this day, to finally get on the field for this team, be with this group and go and make plays and have fun.”
The Stampeders struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the first half, including a turnover on downs on the Lions' nine-yard line in the first quarter, but turned that around in the second half.
Tommy Stevens, Luther Hakunavanhu and Dedrick Mills all had touchdowns for Calgary as the Stampeders rotated through quarterbacks with all three getting at least three reps.
Quarterback Chris Reynolds led the way for the Stampeders, going 12 for 13 with 122 yards and one touchdown.
This is the final pre-season tilt for both teams before meeting up in Calgary in their season opener next Thursday.
Campbell said his focus is on the regular season and announcing final cuts to the squad.
“I wouldn't read too much from this game from a standpoint of who won this game doesn't really matter as much as next week,” he said. “The evaluation piece was more important than winning the game.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.