By Canadian Press

Ticats head into regular-season finale with strength at quarterback

Oct 16, 2023 | 2:44 PM

Head coach Orlondo Steinauer will have a pleasant issue to address when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats return from their bye week.

Hamilton (8-9) finishes its regular season visiting Montreal (10-7) on Oct. 28. The two teams return to Molson Stadium on Nov. 4 for the East Division semifinal.

What Steinauer must determine is playing time for his quarterbacks. Hamilton is three deep with veterans Bo Levi Mitchell and Matt Shiltz as well as rookie Taylor Powell having all won games this season.

But with the six-foot-four, 210-pound Kai Locksley firmly established as Hamilton’s short-yardage quarterback, one of those three faces will be the odd man out in terms of playing time.

For the last two games, that’s been Powell as Mitchell has made consecutive starts since recovering from a lower-leg fracture sustained July 28. Shiltz relieved Mitchell both times (in second and third quarters, respectively).

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So will Mitchell take all of the snaps in Hamilton’s regular-season finale?

“I honestly don’t have the answer,” Steinauer said following Friday night’s game. “Sure, you’d like to just even it out and make sure everybody’s ready to go but I’m not really sure which decision we’ll make at this time. 

“I just want everybody to get away, heal up. It’s been a long stretch here.”

If healthy, the expectation is Hamilton will ride Mitchell, 33, into the playoffs. After all, it signed the two-time Grey Cup champion to a three-year deal reportedly worth $1.62 million in January.

Injuries limited Mitchell, twice the CFL’s outstanding player, to just five starts with Hamilton. But over his last two games, the six-foot-two, 199-pound Mitchell has completed 17-of-24 passes (70.8 cent) for 264 yards with three TDs and one interception.

Shiltz, 30, has been an effective replacement, completing 30-of-38 passes (78.9 per cent) for 451 yards with three TDs and an interception. He has also rushed seven times for 64 yards (9.1-yard average) over that span.

Predictably, both Mitchell and Shiltz will prepare next week to play every snap of the regular-season finale against Montreal.

“Whatever coach Oh (Steinauer) and (playcaller Scott Milanovich) decide, that’s what I’m going to do,” Mitchell said. “We have a bye week now so I’m going to get my body completely ready even ahead of where it is now (and) mentally I’m going to be ready to go from now until the Grey Cup and play every snap.”

Added Shiltz: “I’m going to be ready to play. If they want me to play four quarters I’m going to be ready to play. I’m going to prepare like it’s the most important game on the schedule because it’s the next one.”

But even if Mitchell starts, Shiltz said a backup’s job is to always be ready to play.

“It’s having that confidence we can be starters in this league and lead a team and direct an offence and be the guy,” he said. “As a backup, you must have that confidence.

“That’s just how you have to handle yourself in this role and business because if you don’t play or perform when your number is called then they’re always going to be trying to find the next guy to do it.”

However, Mitchell was emphatic that whoever plays has the support of the quarterback room.

“We’re a close-knit group,” Mitchell said. “We understand that to win a Grey Cup your quarterback has to play well, no matter who’s in there.

“I can tell you every time I’m in there, nobody cheers louder than Matt, Taylor and Kai and it’s the same when Matt’s in there. It’s a special room, now we just have to go out there and make it worth it.”

Mitchell has no shortage of playoff experience, having never missed the CFL post-season since joining the Stampeders in 2012. He has been the starter in eight of his 12 appearances (winning five) and four of five Grey Cups.

“I hope that’s something the guys would want to lean on and listen to,” Mitchell said. “Now, I’m not going to overdo it because, again, we have more than one leader in this locker room … we have guys on this team that understand when to speak up and how to.

“Coach Oh already does a great job of it, he’ll show the things that can lose us the game but he’s going to speak on the positives and we’re going to move on. We’re going to lock into what we have to and accomplish the goal we have in front of us. Stay process-driven and understand what’s right in front of you and that’s how we can get there with the right mindset.”

Tim White, the CFL’s leading receiver with 75 catches for 1,269 yards and eight TDs, said the offence can shine with all three quarterbacks.

“When Bo steps on the field, he has a lot of experience, a lot of confidence so he wants things a specific way,” White said. “When Matt gets into the game, he’s more like he just wants big plays and you can believe when you run a route the ball is going to be there.

“Taylor is obviously a young developing guy but when he gets in you know he’s going to pick the defence apart and want to drive down the field. At the end of the day, it’s just make our play.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press