{"id":849914,"date":"2026-08-07T22:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/849914\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:48:39","slug":"qb-nathan-rourke-returns-from-shoulder-injury-to-start-for-b-c-lions-against-ticats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/849914\/","title":{"rendered":"QB Nathan Rourke returns from shoulder injury to start for B.C. Lions against Ticats"},"content":{"rendered":"

B.C. went 1-2 after Rourke\u2019s exit, but beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35-19 last week.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Rookie starter Kaidon Salter completed seven of 15 pass attempts for 96 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 160 yards \u2014 a franchise record for a quarterback and the fifth-highest all-time in the CFL \u2014 in the win over Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Salter and running back Zander Horvath combined for 351 yards on the ground as the Lions set a club record of 377 rushing yards in a single game.<\/p>\n

Rourke has completed 71.3 per cent of his throws (107-for-150) for 1,403 yards and five touchdowns. He\u2019s been intercepted four times in his five games this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy intention is not to come back in a state where I\u2019m not helping the team,\u201d Rourke told reporters in Vancouver earlier this week. \u201cWe proved last week that we don\u2019t need me to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that I\u2019m as close to my best as possible before taking (out) someone who is healthy, taking their spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rourke isn\u2019t the only key cog back in B.C.\u2019s lineup as running back James Butler returns after sitting out the win over Winnipeg with a foot injury. <\/p>\n

Butler has 296 yards on 62 carries and four touchdowns, with another 121 receiving yards.<\/p>\n

The Lions\u2019 defence has tightened in allowing four touchdowns in the last three games compared to 16 in the team\u2019s first four this season.<\/p>\n

Hamilton will start Harrison Frost, who replaced Canadian Tre Ford in last week\u2019s 44-20 loss to Calgary. <\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Frost completed nine of 20 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and also lost a fumble.<\/p>\n

Veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell remains out after surgery for an ankle injury sustained in Hamilton\u2019s 14-13 loss to Winnipeg on July 5. Hamilton has gone 1-3 in the 36-year-old\u2019s absence. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was here the last two years, and Bo took 99 per cent of the snaps,\u201d Frost said Thursday in Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe window doesn\u2019t come often, the chance to play doesn\u2019t come often at any level. I\u2019m going to do the best I can to try and take advantage of the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tiger-Cats will try to sweep the season series after a 41-27 win at home June 19.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"B.C. went 1-2 after Rourke\u2019s exit, but beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35-19 last week. Rookie starter Kaidon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-849914","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\/849914","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=849914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}