Glenn not bothered by Riders mid-game QB change

After 17 seasons in the CFL, there’s nothing that surprises Kevin Glenn anymore, not even being pulled from a football game.

“Anything can happen at any given time and I’ve probably been associated with anything that can happen to a quarterback,” he said Tuesday afternoon after practice at Mosaic Stadium.

Glenn was pulled from the game in the second quarter against the Argonauts on Saturday in favour of Brandon Bridge who went on to go 20 of 28 for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the Riders come from behind victory.

He said young quarterbacks may worry about being pulled from a game, but it’s nothing that he dwells on anymore.

“I don’t worry about the decisions that the coaches make because I can’t control that,” Glenn said.

“It might be tough for a younger guy, but an experienced guy who has been through it, it’s not the first time its ever happened to me … I’ve been through it before so it doesn’t really bother me.”

It probably doesn’t hurt that head coach Chris Jones was quick to silence any quarterback controversy, stating on Saturday night after the game that it will be Glenn starting this week against the Redblacks, not Bridge.

“Here’s the thing I think is important: How many games would we have won without him early in the season?” he asked the assembled media.

“He threw for about 70-something per cent and was very efficient running our offence and in bad situations was still able to handle it because of his experience and his calmness.”

Jones said the offensive line needs to do a better job of protecting Glenn, the receivers need to catch the balls that he throws to them and Glenn himself needs to set his feet and throw better.

“It’s not rocket science,” Jones added.

“My approach doesn’t change,” Glenn said when asked if he needed to do anything differently.

“All you can do is go out and play so why would you ever add anymore pressure. We’re (in) a pressure situation as it is because we’re in the business of wins. This happens in no other job. You can’t track wins and losses every day in no other job … I’m not going to change my approach because I’ve been doing this long enough to know what I need to do to get prepared to play.”

But if something comes up again, Glenn is the first to admit that it’s good for his team to have two quarterbacks who can win football games.

“The good thing is the different types of styles where he’s the guy that can move around and extend plays and sometimes get passes downfield with guys running wide open where I’m more of a technician guy,” Glenn explained.

“But it’s good, it’s good for a team to have that and you never know when you’re going to need it.”

And if Bridge is called back into the game on Friday, or any game in the future, Jones knows he can trust Glenn to be there for him.

“He’s such a team guy that he can put everything aside and be the leader that he has been his entire career that when decide to put Brandon Bridge in the game (Glenn’s) standing right there next to his guy and coaching him.”