Next man up. It’s a phrase that is used often in sports to describe the mindset of having someone ready to come in and replace an injured player.
It’s a philosophy that the B.C. Lions have adhered to this season with the 24-21 win over the Edmonton Elks Thursday night at BC Place being the latest example.
While everyone has been pontificating on how the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been ravaged by injuries and how it has impacted them as they start their season at 0-3, it’s not like the B.C. Lions haven’t had their share of injuries either.
Yet with the win over the Elks, the Lions sit at 3-1.
For some reason, most CFL observers forget the fact that the Lions have two all-stars sidelined right now.
Receiver Keon Hatcher and halfback T.J. Lee are still out with Achilles injuries suffered in the Western Final game against the Bombers last Nov. 11. Both are rehabbing at the Lions facility, working on agility drills and running sprints while the main group practices. The loquacious Hatcher is also adding ‘colour commentary’ to some plays during team period and making his presence felt. Lee is targeting to return for the game in Calgary on July 21, with Hatcher hoping to play a couple of weeks after that.
Defensive tackle Nathan Cherry is also going through the drills as he recovers from a torn ACL. Cherry is an underrated part of the line rotation and will give the team another boost when he returns at some point.
Throw in the fact that starting center Michael Couture is on the six-game injured list with a back issue and the Lions have done well despite missing those players.
The Lions depth will be further tested, though, as middle linebacker Josh Woods tore his ACL in the game against Edmonton and will be lost for the year.
“That’s tough. That’s our leader, our brother. It hurt my heart to see that because he works so hard and he’s such a good dude. We had some banged-up receivers as well but guys just stepped up and made plays when we needed to,” Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. told us on our CKNW 980 post-game show.
With the latter, Adams was referring to wide receiver Alexander Hollins, who was on the sidelines for the game-winning drive against the Elks because of a hamstring issue.
“His status is to be determined. He couldn’t run if you watched him this game. He slowed down as the game went on and we didn’t want something horrible to happen where it turns into a long-term thing. The good news is that we are on a 10-day week coming up, so time is a little bit on our side with that. Hopefully over the next few days he starts feeling better,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell.
There are some positives, however, as linebacker Ben Hladik is set to return after a one-game absence. Hladik, who led the CFL with 25 tackles heading into this week, missed the Edmonton game after undergoing a surgical procedure on his thumb but should be good to go against Hamilton next Sunday according to Campbell.
“The good news is that we have guys that can play. Ace (Eley) played a lot tonight as did Ryder Varga. And there is a very good chance Ben is back next week, so we do have options but there is no question we will miss Josh,” said Campbell.
The Lions in all likelihood will have Hladik move back to middle linebacker - a position which he manned last year - with Ryder and veteran Bo Lokombo rotating at Hladik’s vacated outside linebacker spot. Or they could start Eley at middle with Hladik staying outside although the former scenario is the one more likely to occur with Eley getting reps in certain packages.
As the season progresses, more injuries will occur and the ‘next-man-up’ mantra will be tested yet again, but thus far, the Lions have passed the test.
OVERTIME
* Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. continued his great play, going 27 for 38 for 331 yards passing with a touchdown. He also continued his streak of not throwing an interception, which is now up to 133 attempts. Speaking of streaks, kicker Sean Whyte’s game-winning 42-yard field goal as time expired upped his consecutive field goal streak to 28, which is a career-best.
* The Lions unveiled a new short-yardage offense with fullback David Mackie operating the offence under center. Mackie was productive carrying the ball five times for 17 yards including a touchdown. A fumble near the Elks goal line early in the fourth quarter put a damper on things but Mackie rebounded by punching one in from the one-yard line on the very next drive to give the Lions the lead. “It shows the confidence that the coaching staff has in me. I didn’t think they were going to totally pull the plug on me but sometimes your mind circles a little bit when something goes wrong. It’s nice that we got back in that situation and they had the trust in me to make that call again,” said Mackie.
* The Elks lost for the second straight week on a walk-off field goal and dropped to 0-4 despite losing three of those games by a field goal and the other by eight points. “I’m just sick for the guys. They’ve worked their butts off. People don’t see how hard they work. A five-day week…travelling to both sides of the country…that’s a pretty tall task for anyone. There are a lot of teams that, if they were faced with the same thing to come over here in B.C., the outcome would be a lot different than what we had tonight,” Elks head coach Chris Jones said post-game.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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