SURREY, B.C. - After waiting 10 weeks to make his first start of the CFL season, B.C. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay faces another potentially long hiatus before his next one.
B.C. coach Mike Benevides said Saturday it's unlikely that Lulay will play when the Lions host Winnipeg next weekend. Lulay re-injured his right throwing shoulder late in Friday's 7-5 victory over the Redblacks in Ottawa.
"Basically, what I know right now, I wouldn't plan with him," said Benevides after the team returned to its Surrey, B.C. practice facility from the nation's capital.
Lulay returned with the team, but was not made available to reporters.
Benevides said the injury is similar to the one that Lulay suffered last season against Montreal, forcing him to undergo off-season surgery that landed him on the six-game injury list at the start of the season and limited him to a pair of relief appearances before he made his first start in Ottawa. But the full extent of the shoulder damage won't be known until Lulay undergoes an MRI exam Tuesday.
"He's going to have to go through the process," said Benevides. "We won't have any new information until we go through the MRI process Tuesday afternoon. Obviously, he's tremendously disappointed, as we all are for him."
During the off-season, Lulay received surgery on a partially torn labrum. Bad weather played a part Friday as the Lions finished the game amidst slippery conditions following a 22-minute delay due to a rain storm.
"He went to throw the ball, it popped out of his hand, it slipped, he went to try and recover it and then there was a pile that occurred (and put him) in an awkward position," said Benevides.
With Lulay sidelined again, 14-year veteran Kevin Glenn resumes the starting role that he played for the first nine weeks of the season.
Glenn has led the Lions to five wins, but he has also faced criticism for a lack of mobility and consistency while the B.C. offence has struggled to produce touchdowns.
"We're going to have to find a way to get it done without (Lulay)," said Benevides. "We've fought all year long without him, and now we're going to do that for a little while until we find out some more. But like I said, I'm hopeful that we'll find out some more information along the way. But we have to make sure that we're resilient and we move forward without him, just like we were before (the Ottawa) game."
Running back Andrew Harris told reporters after the contest that his heart sank when he saw Lulay injure his shoulder again. However, Benevides does not plan to downplay the effect of Lulay's latest setback to his teammates as the Lions (6-4) attempt to secure a playoff spot in the ultra-competitive West Division.
"I think it's important to let human beings be who they are," said Benevides. "That's a natural reaction (from Harris.) You can't fight that, and I feel the same way. So I think the biggest thing is how you react to that. You're going to feel human emotion as it is, whether it's elation or whether it's disappointment, whether it's devastation, sadness, anger, whatever it is. You've gotta let them kind of figure it out themselves, but I'm not going to tell them not to feel a certain way. … But there's no doubt we're going to have to be stronger through it."
Accordingly, Benevides refused to be drawn into a discussion on how Lulay's injury might jeopardize his career in wake of past problems with his shoulder. Lulay, who garnered CFL most outstanding player honours in 2011 while leading the Lions to an improbable Grey Cup following the team's 0-5 start, also injured the shoulder while playing for the Berlin Thunder in now-defunct NFL Europa in 2007 and again in 2012 with B.C.
"There's no doubt that he's disappointed and it's affected him," said Benevides. "It's affects all of us, but I'm not gonna rush to that judgment just yet. I think it depends exactly on what (doctors) say. If there's anybody I believe in overcoming (adversity), it's Travis Lulay."
Notes: The Lions don't plan to bring in another quarterback as injury insurance. … Defensive back Ronnie Yell returned with the team after being sidelined in the second half Friday. He is slated to go through the CFL concussion protocol in the coming week, and Benevides is optimistic that he could play against Winnipeg. … Benevides was not pleased with the offensive line's effort as Lulay took several hits and the offence failed to score a touchdown. But the coach did not make any efforts to have Lulay limit his contact, attributing the injury to an unfortunate occurrence. ... Veteran offensive guard Dean Valli, who saw limited action due to a sore back, is expected to see more action against the Blue Bombers.