The Calgary Stampeders will take to the field Monday for their first pre-season game. The Stamps are hosting the defending Grey Cup champs, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and you can bet we’ll see a lot of the backup quarterbacks in that game. Stampeders quarterback Josh Love got a surprise just before the start of training camp—PJ Walker decided to walk away from the game, propelling Love into the backup role. “Credit to PJ. Great career, better human being and was great to be around him. Actually met him a couple of years ago—was in the same room for a really brief time with Carolina. Just a great dude,” Love said. “But no matter if I’m starting or backup or whatever on the depth chart, I’m always competing, and I’m always trying to prepare like I’m the starter.” A lot of things changed for Love coming into this camp. Not only is he the frontrunner to back up Vernon Adams, but he also changed his number from 16 to 12. Love says he’s learning a lot from those around him. “I take it one day at a time and try to soak in all the information that I can from Vernon,” he said. “He’s been here 10-plus years in this league, and obviously we have such a great staff with the history with Dave (Dickenson, head coach and general manager) and Pat (DelMonaco, offensive co-ordinator and running backs coach), and now adding Jarious (Jackson, quarterbacks coach).” When Dickenson found out about Walker, he didn’t push the panic button and go out and find another quarterback. He has faith in Love and wants him to step up into that backup role. “He still hasn’t played a lot, and I do want to see. An opportunity and certainly a better opportunity. He should’ve come in ready to rock, and he did. I would like to see, like from all of our guys, in and out of the huddle quicker and processing the defences quicker,” Dickenson said. Love will likely see a lot of action in the pre-season game against the Riders, and he says he’s ready for it. “Trust the process, trust my preparation and trust the coaching staff with the points they give us, and just trust the system and go out and play ball,” he said. Love is battling rookies Ben Wooldridge and Jacolby Criswell for the backup job.
