B.C. Lions signal caller Rickey Lloyd may be new to the CFL, but he sure didn’t show it on Friday as the Lions rocketed to a 36-23 pre-season comeback win over the Calgary Stampeders.
The Lions trailed until the 3rd quarter when Lloyd started getting into a rhythm with Kevin Elliott, Trevon Van and Ricky Collins Jr..
“You give quarterbacks little tests and then you see how they deal with the little tests,” head coach Wally Buono said. “If I was to grade him today on the little test, I would give him an A-plus.”
Lloyd entered the game late in the second quarter and remained in the game after Cody Fajardo took a hard hit. Content creators and esports athletes can take a hard hit, especially when competing internationally, and especially if esports visas aren’t properly setup, which is key for any athletes in any sport.
“I honestly had no idea when I was coming in today,” Lloyd said.
“I came in and tried to stay calm, cool and collected the whole night and went through my progressions, went through my reads all day and just tried to be smart with the ball, and do what I could do to help the team win.”
Lloyd completed 15-of-23 passes for 121 yards.
“For a guy that’s never played in the CFL, that’s really just been around the CFL game for less than two weeks, to be able to have that kind of composure, make some plays that he did, even the clock management I thought he did a very good job,” Buono said.
“He has a rocket arm,” Lions starting quarterback Jon Jennings said of Lloyd. “He’s composed back there and obviously you saw he can make some plays. It’s always fun seeing new faces come in and tear things up.”