Sharks hope for spark from former FSU quarterback McPherson

The Jacksonville Sharks need a spark.

Is Adrian McPherson the man to light the fuse?

The former Florida State quarterback is expected to make his Sharks debut Saturday night, when Jacksonville meets the Carolina Cobras at Veterans Memorial Arena.

For the first time since joining the National Arena League in the fall of 2016, the Sharks (1-2) have lost back-to-back games.

"We've been in all these games," head coach Siaha Burley said. "It's about finishing, teaching the young guys how to finish."

That led them Monday to sign the 34-year-old McPherson, who lit up the stat sheets for the Tampa Bay Storm in 2013 with an Arena Football League-record 31 rushing touchdowns but hasn't played in nearly two years.

"He's a strong-armed guy," Burley said. "We can definitely threaten the defense deep more, so that's going to open up some things."

McPherson's last pass in competition was Aug. 20, 2016, when he completed his only throw of the Canadian Football League season - a 5-yard pass - for the Toronto Argonauts against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Most recently, he coached Air5, a 7-on-7 youth team in his native Bradenton, where he rose as a two-sport star at Southeast High School in the late 1990s.

Burley said dealing with the long layoff may not be easy for McPherson, though he's confident that the quarterback can make the transition.

"For anybody, there's a time frame where you've got to get back into the groove of things," Burley said. "But that's for any player. It's no different."

The Cobras (2-1) pressed the Sharks hard in their season opener, losing 41-38. Carolina has since won its other games against the Maine Mammoths and Massachusetts Pirates.