Rourke to undergo surgery

[KnowItAll]

I wish Streveler well in his NFL efforts, but if he gets doesnt make the last cut, I wonder......

[Toppy Vann]

The good news, its not so fracture. Depending on, and if, hardware is required to repair the ligament, there's a chance he can recover fully before the regular season is over.

I thought the same as you until I did more reading.

On the game thread I speculated top of foot based on the ice bag and what TSN said and thought as you do or did.

That was until I checked why surgery here and found out why as did others here. I also found out what can happen if not treated surgically.

Maybe the good news could be that his problem is very minor but they need to avoid this long term problem:

"A neglected or untreated injury to the Lisfranc joint can lead to secondary arthritis and significant morbidity and disability."

=====

While O'Connor hasn't played much in the CFK unfortunately for BC and him now, I'd not write this Lions team off yet. Defense is good.

Questions that hopefully get answered positively and soon:

1. How comfortable both mentally and offense wise is M.O.?
All it seems he did was run the ball as if he was not trusted but it was more situational. Question is is O'Connor game ready.
How O'Connor is thinking these days having not played is key as is how fast he can be game ready and grow quickly.

Having said that it was him into the game only after the W and no doubt the Lions weren't going to show anything creative to make MO look good as they didn't need to.

2. How innovative is the OC capable of being in helping his QB be successful vs vanilla run packages that ensure the Lions will fail with 2nd and long .

3.. Will they use David Mackie more and do so effectively?
Dunigan in the Toronto- Calgary game was giving kudos to the Argo FB replacing Andrew Harris and mentioned Mackie positively


Stamps right now look to be stalling on offence and Riders a .500 team says their HC.

Winnipeg is still looking fine.

And trading for a QB is not likely to pay dividends as I can't see any out there who'd be a quick fix given the Lions schedule.

I doubt Rourke would be rushed back if the docs saw risk here.

[Gridiron Ernie]

Roarke at Post Practice interview today: https://www.bclions.com/2022/08/22/nath ... m-hopeful/

Thanks for the interview link. Good to see Nathan in a healthy frame of mind, engaging the media scrum in a fairly upbeat manner, but with a realistic eye addressing both the physical and psychological aspects of recovery. Just as I would have expected from the solid young fellow. I'm encouraged that he's gonna be alright (body and mind), however long it takes.

[Hambone]

Lots of good points there Toppy. I was watching TSN half an hour ago (no sound). The graphic at the bottom said Campbell is planning and preparing as though Rourke will not be back. That is the best tact to take. Better to assume he won't be back and take it as a bonus if he does than to fool himself into thinking he will return and be disappointed when that doesn't happen.

[DanoT]

Lions don't need to trade for a QB and there are none available that are all that much better than what they already have. They do need to compensate for what they will miss most with Rourke on the Injured List: Rourke's quick read, quick decision making, quick release.

A beefed up running game is now really needed to help out the new inexperienced QB.

[Belize City Lion]

I honestly don't see that or any other trade being possible. Montreal will be in a playoff battle right to the end with as legit a shot as anybody in the East to advance to the GC. I can't see them moving VA who is very much beloved by his team mates.

Don’t underestimate the ability of Machocia to do something stupid. Especially when he lets his ego get in the way. If Harris is healthy I could see Machocia trading VA claiming that he was filling other needs, but in reality I think he’d like to get rid of Adams just to show everyone that he’s the boss.

If you're into October you're hoping the newcomer can pick up enough of the offense to be effective for what might be their first start in either the season finale or WSF. CFL trade deadline is Oct 5th, 3 days before BC's 15th game and 3 weeks before their season finale in Winnipeg.

Two words: Zach Collaros.

[Belize City Lion]

If you look at the 9 CFL teams, only two (BC and Winnipeg) have had outstanding quarterbacking so far. Even the venerable Bo Levi Mitchell is average at best this season. Trevor Harris may be playing better than many expected, but he’s not exactly lighting la belle province on fire. Fajardo has been a 3 dressed up as a 9 and now that he’s been benched and the Rider Priders have turned on him I think his time as the the Rider poster boy is coming to a quick and messy end. MacBeth is what he is in Toronto. Solid, steady, makes a few mistakes, but neither loses nor wins games for you. Ottawa, Hamilton, and Edmonton could interchange their QBs and I don’t think anyone would notice or care.

So now other than Collaros (and maybe BLM if he manages to find his old mojo before Jake Mair replaces him) there is no reason why O’Connor couldn’t be the 3rd or 4th best QB in the CFL in the second half of the season. It’s a pretty shallow talent pool. No disrespect intended to O’Connor, who I think is a legit CFL QB prospect, but this is one season where having a mid level QB does not make you uncompetitive.

[Hambone]

Two words: Zach Collaros.

Crafty Belize. I knew somebody might come back at with me with that name. When Collaros went to the Bombers he was a long established starter with 8 years, 90+ games and 2000+ pass attempts on his resume. I still remember him coming fresh off a major knee injury in mid season and absolutely shredding BC. A few games later he seemed to lose his confidence. Other than that there was little doubting his talent. Staying healthy was his biggest problem. Disregard his 2 GC runs with the Bombers and there's still nobody remotely close to him in talent to be scrap heaped as a late season saviour this year.

[swervynmerv]

I know the answer is most likely "no" for a variety of reasons, but I can't help but wonder if anyone at Lions headquarters has checked in with Mike Reilly these days??

[Hambone]

I know the answer is most likely "no" for a variety of reasons, but I can't help but wonder if anyone at Lions headquarters has checked in with Mike Reilly these days??

I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind too. At this point I think we're better to move forward than to try and turn back the clock. As much as it might hurt BC might be better off to get to know what they have in QB reserves in the event Rourke does depart.

[swervynmerv]

I know the answer is most likely "no" for a variety of reasons, but I can't help but wonder if anyone at Lions headquarters has checked in with Mike Reilly these days??

I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind too. At this point I think we're better to move forward than to try and turn back the clock. As much as it might hurt BC might be better off to get to know what they have in QB reserves in the event Rourke does depart.

I concur, you have to see what O'Connor can do for sure. Hopefully he is another "Canadian Suprise"

The only reason I would even think about it is that the Lions haven't had this good of a team in awhile and I think they had/have a great chance to go to the Grey Cup. If Reilly was in good health and spirits, maybe a last hurrah over a 6-7 games may be of interest and beneficial to both parties.

[PigSkin_53]

The good news, its not so fracture. Depending on, and if, hardware is required to repair the ligament, there's a chance he can recover fully before the regular season is over.

I thought the same as you until I did more reading.

On the game thread I speculated top of foot based on the ice bag and what TSN said and thought as you do or did.

That was until I checked why surgery here and found out why as did others here. I also found out what can happen if not treated surgically.

Maybe the good news could be that his problem is very minor but they need to avoid this long term problem:

"A neglected or untreated injury to the Lisfranc joint can lead to secondary arthritis and significant morbidity and disability."

It is as you have indicated Toppy.

I can tell you from my own experience that, depending on the degree of damage they might find (dislocation), may require surgery to shore up the architecture of the foot, with screws to avoid any arthritics from becoming problematic in the future!

[CrazyCanuck89]

I know the answer is most likely "no" for a variety of reasons, but I can't help but wonder if anyone at Lions headquarters has checked in with Mike Reilly these days??

Why though? Football shape is a whole different animal. The future is now, Rourke and O'Connor are your teams future.

[CrazyCanuck89]

If you look at the 9 CFL teams, only two (BC and Winnipeg) have had outstanding quarterbacking so far. Even the venerable Bo Levi Mitchell is average at best this season. Trevor Harris may be playing better than many expected, but he’s not exactly lighting la belle province on fire. Fajardo has been a 3 dressed up as a 9 and now that he’s been benched and the Rider Priders have turned on him I think his time as the the Rider poster boy is coming to a quick and messy end. MacBeth is what he is in Toronto. Solid, steady, makes a few mistakes, but neither loses nor wins games for you. Ottawa, Hamilton, and Edmonton could interchange their QBs and I don’t think anyone would notice or care.

So now other than Collaros (and maybe BLM if he manages to find his old mojo before Jake Mair replaces him) there is no reason why O’Connor couldn’t be the 3rd or 4th best QB in the CFL in the second half of the season. It’s a pretty shallow talent pool. No disrespect intended to O’Connor, who I think is a legit CFL QB prospect, but this is one season where having a mid level QB does not make you uncompetitive.

Exactly, O'Connor is in his third season. Now is the time to see what he has. He got short changed in Calgary. It's nice to see the Lion's not playing head games with their second and third string QBs.

[Toppy Vann]

I too briefly thought of Michael Reilly but only for a brief moment as that was too painful to watch and it seemed that the OC called far too many deep balls that weren't connecting.
This team seems better prepared in all facets.

I also wondered if Rick Campbell was now asking himself if he should have given O'Connor some more game reps as he took the view that Rourke needed reps as he's a first year starter.

If trade or a new QB from out of the blue aren't options then another internal solution could be O'Connor starting and Antonio Pipkin maybe platooning. His dad certainly was a master at more one than QB but at that time the Esks had an abundance of talent at QB.

Some really innovative run packages and the greater use of the FB could help here.