Old friend visits Orlando Storm as Dorian Thompson-Robinson returns

“We’d be silly not to think that they are a pissed off bunch going into this football game,” Becht said. “With us coming off a loss, I think that helps us focus in a lot more.”

Plummer, coming off his most challenging game of the season, said it will be odd seeing DTR on the other side of the field. The pair spent training camp and the first four games together and got to know each other quite well.

“He was such a good teammate when we had him and obviously he’s a really good player,” Plummer said. “It will be fun to watch him and hopefully he doesn’t do too good.”

Plummer said the two got to know each other quite well during DTR’s time in Orlando.

“We were pretty close. Obviously you are in the same room with the guy for six or eight weeks, or something,” Plummer said. “It was good, a great competition that we had in camp. We really pushed each other to be better.”

DTR carried the clipboard and wore the headset on the sidelines during those first four games, offering any suggestions and adding insight he gathered from his viewpoint.

“During the season he was awesome. We had a great relationship and he was very supportive of me and kind of had my back,” Plummer said. “During conversations in the quarterback room he was pounding on the table for me and saying, ‘We should be doing what Jack is comfortable with.’ He was great in that aspect. He was a really good teammate.”

Being a good teammate helped DTR gain the respect of his coaches and teammates and ultimately led to Becht deciding to give him an opportunity elsewhere.

“It really helped him because Coach Becht had a lot of respect for him and he really wanted him to get an opportunity to play,” Plummer said. “I do think DTR is one of the best eight quarterbacks in the league and deserves to be a guy who is a starter.”

He said the quarterbacks would hang out off the field sometimes, but that “me and DTR weren’t going out on any solo dates, if that’s what you’re asking,” Plummer laughed.

Plummer acknowledged the Storm’s challenge of giving Birmingham a different look.

“It’s going to be interesting playing the same team twice,” said Plummer, who has already gone up against Louisville twice this season, winning both games. “We’re gonna switch our gameplan up a little bit, especially with DTR being over there now giving their coordinator our trade secrets.”

Last week against St. Louis, Plummer completed only 54% of his passes (24-of-44) for 143 yards and a touchdown. Many of those incompletions were throw-away situations to avoid St. Louis pressure, so the offense line will need to be better with protection and the receivers will have to provide more open looks. Plummer was sacked three times against St. Louis.

“I think I’m still being accurate. I know my completion percentage wasn’t as good, but I threw the ball out of bounds probably five or six times or threw the ball at a guy’s feet for the incompletion,” Plummer said. “Numbers do tell the story, but sometimes the right football play is just to get rid of the ball. …

“I think I’m doing a good job protecting the football. I think I’m playing good enough for us to win games and I gotta keep doing my part.”

Plummer has thrown just one interception in 150 pass attempts.

Orlando is coming off a very disappointing first-half performance against St. Louis last week that allowed the Battlehawks to build a 25-0 lead before the Storm finally began to rally, falling short 25-17 for their first loss of the season.

“What I pressed upon my players is that whatever we did in the second half, that’s us,” Becht said. “We had the ball on the +36 with 1:29 left to potentially tie that football game. I’m extremely proud of the way we fought back. It speaks volumes.

“Will that be a turning point for our football team? … We learned a lot. Vibes are great, guys are great. … I can’t wait to see what our response is.”

Going into the season, Becht said his team was going to score a lot of points, but Orlando has scored more than 20 points only twice in five games.

“We only scored 16 points against (Birmingham last time), so we want to score more than that,” Plummer said. “We’re gonna look for more ways to get touchdowns and get points on the board.”

Storm personnel moves

WR KJ Hamler (hamstring) will return to the lineup Sunday after missing two games. The Storm have placed TE Connor Fox (hand) on injured reserve and released CB Allen George and LB Dashaun White. The team signed LB DeQuan Jackson, CB Chris Claybrooks and S Jason Taylor II.

Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.