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<\/p>\n\u201cI think (the Lions) are really close,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we certainly have built a lot of momentum last year and there\u2019s certainly more buzz than there was last year.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into this season, knowing we\u2019re bringing so many people back, that we\u2019re going into the second year under Buck, we just have a ton confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rourke was named the CFL\u2019s outstanding player and top Canadian last season after registering career highs in passing yards (5,290), touchdown passes (31), rushing yards (564) and rushing TDs (10).<\/p>\n
With Rourke at the helm the Lions finished second in the West with a 11-7 record. They defeated the Calgary Stampeders in the West semifinal before a heartbreaking 33-30 loss to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in the division final.<\/p>\n
Neither Rourke nor Neil McEvoy, B.C.\u2019s vice-president of football operations, provided specifics about the contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, he is a premier player in our league and a guy that demands compensation,\u201d said McEvoy. \u201cWe live in a salary cap world, and we were able to make things work for both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rourke hinted he may have taken a little less money for the security of a new deal and give the Lions some financial room to sign free agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always want to make sure we have the opportunity to re-sign guys and keep players that are going to make me better,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, I want to win championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we would agree (this) deal is something that we\u2019re all comfortable with and happy with moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering his fifth season with the Lions, Rourke said he feels more comfortable in the CFL and the role he plays on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve made some strides,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there\u2019s room to improve and that\u2019s very exciting for me mentally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I took some steps in the right direction in terms of dealing with expectations and external pressure. I just saw myself mature throughout the year and I saw this team mature as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
One goal Rourke has this year is reducing his interceptions. The 16 he threw last year were tied for most in the CFL with Winnipeg\u2019s Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the No. 1 highest priority is limiting the amount of interceptions,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal for next year is keeping that in single digits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are going to happen, balls are going to be tipped, but I\u2019m going to do whatever I can do in my control and not turn the ball over and not put our defence in tough situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rourke was selected in the second round, 15th overall, by B.C. in the 2020 CFL draft. In 50 regular-season games, he has completed 795-of-1,1115 passes for 11,174 yards, 63 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.<\/p>\n
The mobile six-foot-one, 209-pound quarterback has also rushed 142 times for 1,192 yards and 27 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
In four years as a starter Rourke has a record as 23-13.<\/p>\n
Rourke spent two years with the Lions before heading south in 2023 to pursue an NFL career. He spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons before returning to B.C. in August 2024.<\/p>\n
Rourke said he\u2019s happy with the Lions and doubts he would give the NFL another try.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen the grass isn\u2019t necessarily greener over there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would take a whole bunch for me to leave the situation (here). I feel like this organization has given me the best opportunity as a player to improve year after year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact we\u2019ve got another three seasons, I feel like I\u2019m going to be a better player at the end of these three seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 3036.<\/p>\n
Jim Morris, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI think (the Lions) are really close,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we certainly have built a lot of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-440664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}