B.C. Lions quarterback Michael Reilly continues to deal with right elbow soreness.
The franchise man played the majority of the second half against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Week 1 after electing to stay on the sideline for the opening 30 minutes in favour of Canadian Nathan Rourke.
“He’s literally got a sore elbow. It’s a deal where he needs to work and do some stuff in a managed way. After really digging deep and talking to our doctors, it might be less serious than I thought,” head coach Rick Campbell said.
“It’s been a long process, it’s been frustrating, especially for Michael. But there’s every reason to believe he is going to keep getting better and him being active and being managed that way is actually the best way for him to come back.”
The 36-year-old QB completed 17-of-24 passes (70.8 percent) for 203 yards and one touchdown while helping the Lions claw back into the game at Mosaic Stadium. However, with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Reilly removed himself from the playing field and finished watching Rourke from the bench.
“On the advice of our medical staff, he’s a guy that’s getting better, rest is not the answer for him. Sometimes the intuition is that you should just rest him and he’ll be better,” Campbell said.
“In fact, he needs to have some activity. If we can get it feeling the right way, he can do it. We’re going to continue that process, Michael believes in it, our doctors believe in it, I believe in it.”
B.C. takes on Calgary at McMahon Stadium on Thursday night in Week 2. It’s a short week for the Stampeders who played at home on Saturday night, but it also feels like a quick turnaround for the Lions after competing on Friday night on the road. The reduced time frame is part of the reason why Rourke took all the first-team reps at practice on Monday.
“What I told our team is: Nathan’s practicing, we gotta plan on him playing, if Michael ends up playing, it’s a bonus. He’s going to be a game-time decision on whether he dresses, and or plays,” Campbell said.
“We obviously would like Michael Reilly to be able to play, we’re going to use him whenever he’s available. If not, we know we can win with Nathan Rourke. We are practicing and preparing for Nathan Rourke to be our starter — we’re not ruling Michael out.”
The Lions “can’t count” on Reilly which could lead to Rourke starting for the second week in a row.
