B.C. Lions confident QB Nathan Rourke can return to top form
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KAMLOOPS — There's no question heading into the CFL season who'll be the B.C. Lions starting quarterback.
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Nathan Rourke is back.
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'He's got that confidence, he's got that offence,' said wide receiver Keon Hatcher. 'It's his team. Everyone's rallied around him.'
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That buy-in is essential for Rourke and the Lions as they prepare for the 2025 campaign.
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The 27-year-old Canadian QB wasn't on the roster to start last season as he worked to find a permanent home in the NFL.
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Instead, the Lions tapped Vernon Adams Jr., who got the team off to a solid 5-3 record before going down with a knee injury at the beginning of August.
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Weeks later, Rourke re-signed with B.C., returning to the team where he earned the title of the league's most outstanding Canadian in 2022 following a standout campaign.
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The homegrown quarterback struggled back in the CFL, going 3-5 while throwing four touchdowns and nine interceptions.
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B.C. finished the regular season with a 9-9 record and was ousted from the West semifinal by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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After the season wrapped, the club dealt Adams to the Calgary Stampeders.
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The Lions are all-in on Rourke this season — and head coach Buck Pierce believes he's ready.
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'He's played quarterback. He understands his job, he understands his role, he understands what he needs to do,' Pierce said.
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'It's not all about him, though… It's everybody pulling in the same direction. So, I think it's nice that way, because he's obviously excited to be here from Day 1 and have a full training camp. And that's how every player wants it, right? It's no different than any other year.'
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Several of Rourke's teammates have expressed confidence in his ability to return to the form he showed in 2022, especially now that the quarterback has had a full training camp with his teammates in Kamloops.
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After all, he wears No. 12 — the same number as Tom Brady and several other legends.
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'A lot of quarterbacks that wear that number, they're high up on the quarterback list. So that's Nathan Rourke — great leader, great man, great friend,' Hatcher said. 'He comes to work every day with his hard hat on.
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'And I'm so excited to see what he gets to do this year, stepping back into that role, being fully confident in what he's doing out here. And I don't expect anything less from 2022 to this season when he's had a full year out there.'
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