It has been a whirlwind for Vernon Adams since he left the Alamo Dome field with a concussion in Oregon’s Alamo Bowl loss to TCU.
His CFL debut was no different.
The former Duck, who wasn’t selected in the NFL draft, but had a first-round pick traded for him by the Montreal Alouettes, subbed into the CFL’s preseason opener against Winnipeg in the 4th quarter and had a shaky start to his pro career.
“Adams stepped into the Als’ huddle early in the fourth, but his pro football debut didn’t start exactly as planned as his pass was deflected by rookie draft pick Rupert Butcher and intercepted by second-year defensive back Garrett Waggoner.”
Obviously, with a first rounder they traded to the BC Lions in exchange for his rights, the Alouettes have a lot invested in Adams, so a shaky first game shouldn’t change much about where they think he will end up for them. He signed a three-year contract with the team in May.
The Alouettes’s general manager Jim Popp said before the game that he feels validated for trading the pick for Adams, and that, like he experienced at Oregon, Adams is behind the other QBs on the roster because he joined the team late:
“He’s just getting to us,” said Popp. “A lot of our quarterbacks that are all new have had an off-season of learning terminology and understanding what we’re doing, have gone through mini-camp. Vernon has not had any of that but he’s learned things very quickly and hopefully we can take things slowly with him and we’ll see where it goes.”
With so much attention being paid to Adams, it was another former Oregon QB who stole the show in the second half. Bryan Bennett, who transferred from Oregon when Marcus Mariota beat him out for the starting job with the Ducks, led Winnipeg to two scores after checking into the game in the 3rd quarter.
Montreal’s next game is against Toronto on June 17.
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