Vernon Adams Jr. out, P.J. Walker in: What's it mean at QB for Calgary Stampeders?

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P.J. Walker gets the call at quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders for the Week 9 game in the nation’s capital.

It’s his Canadian Football League debut start, stepping in with Vernon Adams Jr. sidelined by an injury suffered last week — one of many that punched the Red and White in the loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

“No excuses — let’s go play,” GM/head coach Dave Dickenson told reporters of his Stampeders (5-2) ahead of Thursday’s tilt with the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place (5:30 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge).

“I feel like we’re ready.”

Ready as they can be given all the sidelined starters, including the high-profile one to their star pivot.

“With Vernon …” said Dickenson, of the QB’s head injury, “he was feeling better (Tuesday). He’s progressing, but it’s one of those things where we gotta kind of take the advice of other people, as well.”

What does that mean for the Stampeders?

For Walker himself, it’s a chance at redemption on a few fronts.

Short-term, the New Jersey native is trying to bounce back from a sub-par performance, when he went 3-of-7 passing for 20 yards with the game on the line during his time to shine in last Thursday’s loss to the visiting Alouettes.

And in the long run, the former XFL star is trying to revive his football career after enjoying limited success in the NFL — a 5-4 record and 2,135 passing yards — with the Carolina Panthers and the Cleveland Browns from 2020-23.

“More than anything, preparation is the key to staying ready,” the 30-year-old Walker told reporters. “For me, it’s just to slow myself down a little bit. I’m not getting in a rhythm as much as I would like to.

“It’s just to figure it out, find a way to do my job and execute.

“It’s getting more comfortable in my own skin and just figuring out ways for me to adjust to the environment, adjust to the atmosphere and to the situation that I’m put in.”

With this start, Walker jumps in where Adams has been successful in turning around a team in transition.

Adams has only lost twice in seven starts with the Stamps, looking like an all-star QB and even a league MVP. But the whispers about being a contender for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award were blurred by getting his bell rung in the game against the Als after he took a hit from defender Tyrice Beverette.

And here we are a week later with Walker now under centre against the Redblacks, the only other team to have taken down Adams and the Stamps on the schedule.

“Take full advantage of it and step in and lead this team — lead this team to a win,” declared Walker, whose summoning his rookie NFL start in 2020 for experience heading into his first CFL start.

“Look back at just the way I operated, how I went into it, the way I approached the game that week …” continued Walker. “For me, I’m gonna take that same approach this week. So for me, it’s just to be ready and also go back and watch a little bit of that tape from when I had my first (NFL) start and things like that and just see what mistakes I made and see what mistakes I corrected.

“That might lead to some positive things out on the football field.”

That’s the hope of the Stamps, who can’t even turn to Adams if things don’t go well for Walker in Ottawa.

The veteran QB has been shifted to the one-game injured list, leaving three rookies on the depth chart — including Josh Love and draftee Quincy Vaughn — for the contest against the league’s bottom-feeder in the standings.

“As a backup quarterback — I’ve been there — you’re chomping at the bit to get in there and you want to be prepared and you want to feel like you have a chance that you’ve at least done some things or you feel comfortable calling plays,” Dickenson said. “We’re pretty late in the season, so he’s done that.

“Him and Josh have certainly taken advantage of some extra reps (this week).”

So, Dickenson hopes, has a couple of receivers stepping in off the practice roster.

Both Daylen Baldwin and Vyshonne Janusas make their debut starts at slotback, with hamstring injuries to clutch receivers Jalen Philpot and Damien Alford sidelining them. Of course, that makes it all that much more challenging for a backup — and CFL rookie — stepping in at quarterback.

Throw in the fact that it’s the Stampeders’ fourth game in just 20 days, and it makes for an interesting lead-up to the rematch of that loss to the struggling Redblacks played in monsoon-like conditions at McMahon Stadium in Week 3.

“The CFL in general this year, a lot of the games still come down to the last possession or two, and that’s what happened to us last week, as well,” Dickenson said. “So it’s take advantage of your opportunities. I mean … we were down short inside the five(-yard line) twice and didn’t come away with any points the last time against Ottawa. Missed on an aggressive play and also on short yardage — third and one. You won’t win many games if you can’t score touchdowns. We’ve been doing a good job of scoring touchdowns.

“Can we continue? We’ll see.”

We’ll see, indeed, with rookie QBs under centre, a handful of key personnel sidelined and fatigue having become another obstacle to overcome.

“We’ve worked hard,” added Dickenson. “I don’t think it’s been super sharp this week, but we’ve worked hard. If you get a seven-day week, most of the time, people can heal in seven days and get back to playing.

“And that’s our hope.”

Short yardage

DB Adrian Greene (lower leg) is a game-time decision for the Stampeders after being knocked out of last week’s loss … OL Josh Coker steps back into the Stamps’ starting lineup, after missing last week’s game at right tackle … P Fraser Masin also returns to the roster after missing a few affairs, sending P Mark Vassett back to the practice roster … Others back on the roster are OL Tomas Jack-Kurdyla, DL George Idoko and LB Justin Herdman-Reed (neck) … Stamps dropped from last week’s lineup are and OL Preston Nichols, LB Maurice Blackwell Jr. and DB Ben Labrosse (hamstring).

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