August 3, 2016

Landry: Can late-game mistakes help young Jennings grow?

The Canadian Press

So, here’s one of those moments in a young quarterback’s career that can really show you that he’s made of the right stuff.

Jonathon Jennings, sensational young pivot for the BC Lions, has some atoning to do. Even if his teammates and coaches don’t believe that, you just know that he does, after throwing two late game interceptions in the Lions’ fall-from-ahead loss to the Stampeders in Calgary last Friday.

There is no doubt that the just turned 24-year-old QB made a couple of poor decisions on those throws that were picked off. The first, with just 90 seconds left to play and the Lions ahead by eight, was nabbed by Stamps’ defensive back Ciante Evans, setting Calgary up at the BC 31-yard line. Jennings was fading to his right and backwards as he threw off-balance down the seam.

The other, on second and goal from the 10 and the Lions down by three in overtime, was plucked in the back of the end zone by Tommie Campbell, who had tight coverage on receiver Shawn Gore the whole way.

 

“Two silly decisions,” said Jennings after practice this week, with the Lions preparing for a chance at redemption when they play the Alouettes in Montreal. “Two mistakes that I wish I could take back.”

He is owning it, Jennings is, not running away from it. Not trying to sweep it away and not lashing out at those who would question him about it. In both the after-practice interview and one in the locker room moments after the Stamps had completed their 44-41 comeback, Jennings did not hide and did not act in defensive fashion.

Jennings was having a truly remarkable game before those picks, probably the best of his young CFL career. He made the easy reads and throws with very few noticeable unforced errors. But he also made the tough ones and punctuated the evening with some incredible displays of pure, astounding talent in the third quarter when he rolled left and then dropped in a perfect across the field lob of a bomb to Manny Arceneaux, following it up with a sensational cruise missile shot to Gore at the end zone pylon for a major score.

Damn fine quarterbacking.

So it was a pity, from the Lions’ standpoint, that Jennings made a couple of ill-fated decisions to undo what seemed, at the time, like an inevitable Lions win.

“Gotta make sure that I know the situation and understand that, you know, throwing the ball away isn’t gonna hurt us,” said Jennings after practice.

Perhaps this bit of disappointment, a dose of football humility, will make him an even better quarterback in the long run. He’s banking on it and so are back-up quarterback Travis Lulay and Head Coach Wally Buono, who are treating the late game troubles as no more than the kinds of things that can serve to ensure that they won’t happen again.

Buono isn’t a fan of mental mistakes, of course. No coach is. He’ll only go so far with leaning on Jennings with respect to that, though. “You wanna make sure that you don’t make him be so afraid to make a play that he never does,” he said.

He seemed to be shrugging it off and that, too, might tell you a whole lot about Jennings’ propensity for taking ownership. Again, it seems like something the young pivot has a firm handle on.

“Along with getting better, you’re gonna make mistakes that are gonna, in turn, make you better,” said Jennings. “So, I think that’s a big thing for me is continue to learn and make sure we’re not making the same mistake twice.”

RELATED:
» Bio: Jonathon Jennings
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Larry MacDougal/CFL.ca

Jennings was having himself a excellent game before giving up two late game interceptions (CFL.ca)

Lulay doesn’t show any concern over Jennings’ desire to adjust his decision-making. Seems the only thing the 2011 Grey Cup MVP might have been worried about is whether the loss in Calgary would hurt his young protégé’s confidence. So he told him “this is not unique to you.”

“Everybody’s been through that type of game,” Lulay said.

“If you use it the right way and learn from it, it can actually be good for you in the long run ‘cause you don’t gloss over that mistake,” said Lulay, who brought up his own mistakes from his first CFL start in a game against Toronto, back in 2010. He remembered throwing a pick-six late to allow the Argos to take the lead and then tried to force one in on the Lions’ next series and was picked again.

“It’ll challenge your mental toughness every single week,” said Lulay.

“The guys that are mentally tough are the guys that can make it.”

Is Jennings the mentally tough kind that he appears to be?

“Jon’s demonstrated that,” said Lulay, of one of the most important traits a quarterback must have; the ability to rebound. “He did that just a couple of weeks ago with a little hiccup against Toronto (a loss in Week 3) and then settled back in in the Saskatchewan game (a win in Week 4).”

“The biggest thing is to take the positives out of the game,” said Jennings, who now needs to leave last week’s disappointments behind, but not totally, as he’ll need them to inform his progression.

Some will wonder: Is he a guy that will drop your jaw with rare abilities only to then have you shaking your head with a dash of inadvisable carelessness?

I don’t know if Jonathon Jennings is going to spend his career confounding us with a mix of marvellous athletic ability and athletic hubris, the kind that has him feeling he can and should make any throw at anytime, but I doubt it.

The former seems a given and has from the get go. The latter, all insist, will not haunt Jennings and the team moving forward.

The Calgary game seems just the thing to have cured him of that.