At the start of his fourth season in the CFL and one sleep away from just his fifth start in the league, Vernon Adams Jr. has learned a valuable lesson.
“This game is completely different from American football, it’s way harder. I don’t care what nobody says, it’s way harder,” Adams said over the phone, a few hours after he and the Montreal Alouettes had arrived in Hamilton.
Learning the three-down game as a quarterback is a unique challenge and there are only nine starting jobs in the league. Adams has had his name attached to five separate transactions in his short time in the CFL and is in his second go-round with the Als. He’s learned that opportunities are rare and that you won’t have much control over how they present themselves.
“You just have to get used to it and put in the time and earn it,” he said. “Earn the coaches trust, earn the guys on the team’s trust and just let it rip.”
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Adams, 26, gets the chance to let it rip on Friday night against a Tiger-Cats team that devoured the Argos on Saturday, in a 64-14 win. Hamilton will be looking to improve to 3-0, while the 0-1 Als are coming off a bye week and looking for their first win of the season.
Film study has shown a lot of what the Ticats’ defence can do and what an offence shouldn’t do against it.
“Oh man, that’s a good defence,” he said.
“They had four sacks, they only gave up 14 points. They play hard football. They’ve got good DBs, the d-line is active. I think it’s going to be a good challenge for us and it’s going to be a good game, I believe.”
Adams knows that he’ll have to be on his game to keep Hamilton’s defence at bay.
“(The Argos) had a few too many mistakes they were making over there. That’s all it is, kind of like us with the Edmonton game (in Week 1),” he said.
“We felt like we played a very good game little mistakes, little penalties were hurting us and changing the field position. W
e’ve got to limit those.”
Wins are what everyone’s after, of course, but even a strong performance at QB would go a long way for Adams. Antonio Pipkin was named the starter out of training camp but went down with a leg injury link in that Week 1 loss in Edmonton. The Als’ organization’s main priority this year was to stop the carousel that’s spun around the QB position since Anthony Calvillo retired. With Pipkin expected to be out 4-6 weeks, there’s a possibility that Adams could play his way into something permanent here. The stakes are high for him and his team, but he doesn’t see pressure in the situation.
“I feel like it’s a great opportunity,” he said.
“Just to show that we’re ready as a team and we’re prepared. That’s all we can say until after the game. I don’t want to say too much. I just think we had a good week and guys are locked in.”
Vernon Adams Jr. was forced into action in Week 1 vs. Edmonton off the bench and now has an opportunity to prove he can be a viable starter with Antonio Pipkin sidelined (CFL.ca).
He’ll look to build on what he accomplished in Week 1, where he made 7-10 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown. Watching from the sidelines and backing up some successful quarterbacks over the last four years — he lists of Kevin Glenn, Darian Durant and Jeremiah Masoli as some of the most helpful and influential on him — he looked over at the home team’s sideline in Edmonton and thought about what could be.
“It’s a pay-your-dues type of game and I feel like I’ve been doing that,” he said. I still have a lot to learn and want to eventually get to that Bo Levi (Mitchell), Mike Reilly, Trevor Harris-type of level.”
It’s a far cry from when he came to the league as a 22-year-old. The Lions held his negotiation list rights and traded them to Montreal and when he signed a deal with the Als he thought he’d arrived.
“I thought I was going to come into the CFL and start right away. I kind of looked down on the CFL when I first got up here. I didn’t understand the game, I didn’t respect the game, I didn’t understand that you had to put in so much time in film and effort,” he said.
“As a quarterback, this isn’t a game where you can wake up and play. It’s tough.”
In a league where many quarterbacks don’t assume control of a team until they’re almost 30, there’s still time for Adams; even if he’d like it to unfold in fast-forward. He’s played in 39 games so far in his career. Friday, that 40th game, is all he can control right now.
“The more reps you get, the more confidence you get and the more the team gets confident in you and everybody gets that chemistry and you get on the same page,” Adams said. “That’s all it is. Getting those game reps and knowing that everything is going to be all right.”
