Latest news with #JasonMaas
National Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Davis Alexander returns, Chad Kelly remains out as Alouettes host Argos
MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes want to bring their two-game skid to a halt. Article content Welcoming back a quarterback who does nothing but win should only help. Article content Article content Davis Alexander returns from a hamstring injury with a chance to improve his CFL record to 8-0 on Thursday against the Toronto Argonauts. Article content 'He gives everybody juice,' head coach Jason Maas said Wednesday at Olympic Stadium. 'He's led our football team from the moment we assigned him as the starter. Article content 'He's a tremendous leader, tremendous player. We're excited to have him back.' Article content Maas also emphasized he doesn't expect the 26-year-old to be a saviour. Article content 'It's more than a one-man show,' he said. 'Davis is a piece of our football team, he's an important piece of the football team, but he's also a one piece, so everybody collectively around him needs to play well.' Article content The Alouettes (3-2) opened the season on a 3-0 run with Alexander behind centre, only to falter with back-to-back defeats against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and B.C. Lions with backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson leading the offence. Article content The Ticats ran over Montreal 35-17 in Hamilton before the Lions sunk the Alouettes with a last-second field goal to win 21-20 at Molson Stadium in Week 5. Article content Now the Alouettes — tied with Hamilton atop the East — will try to get back on track against a team they've already beaten handily this season. Article content Montreal defeated Toronto 28-10 to open the 2025 campaign. The Alouettes and Argos (1-4), both coming off bye weeks, play once more at BMO Field on Sept. 19, meaning Montreal would secure the season series with a win Thursday. Article content Article content 'We try and treat every game the same (but) I'd be lying if I said this one isn't a little different because it is Toronto. It's a divisional rival,' Alexander said. 'They don't like us. We don't like them.' Article content The five-foot-11, 210-pound Alexander surged from third-string QB to face of the franchise after leading Montreal to four wins as a starter — and another comeback off the bench — while '23 Grey Cup MVP Cody Fajardo missed time last season. Article content So far this year, Alexander has thrown for 803 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 75.6 per cent of his attempts. Alexander was 20-for-24 for 254 yards and three TDs in a stellar first half before exiting Week 3's win over Edmonton. Article content He'll try to match CFL great Danny McManus with a record eight straight victories to begin his Canadian career on Thursday. Article content 'It's a very cool thing,' Alexander said. 'I would love to have the record, but to me, it is most important to get back on track, 1-0.'
National Post
04-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Lions vs. Alouettes: Montreal looks to rebound versus B.C. squad
MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes will once again turn to veteran backup quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson on Saturday night when they host the B.C. Lions at Percival Molson Stadium. Article content The 37-year-old gets his second straight start behind centre in place of injured starter Davis Alexander. Alexander, who suffered a hamstring injury during Montreal's win over the Edmonton Elks on June 19, is expected back in time for Montreal's next game against the Toronto Argonauts on July 17, according to head coach Jason Maas. Article content Article content Article content Bethel-Thompson will look to rebound following a 35-17 loss last Friday in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats, during which he completed 24 of 41 passes for 203 yards and was intercepted twice. Article content 'Every day I get more reps, I feel more and more comfortable,' said Bethel-Thompson. 'I feel like we were prepared last week. I felt like we had a good week of practice and we were ready to go. Obviously that game didn't go the way we wanted it to, but I felt like we had a good preparation again this week. Article content 'I'm excited for the opportunity to come back home, protect our house, and find a way to get a win.' Article content One area of emphasis for the Alouettes in practice this week was their execution on first-down opportunities. Last week, Montreal (3-1) converted on a season-low 16 first-down chances, a statistic Maas understands is crucial to his team's overall success on offence. Article content 'You stay on the positive side of things; you have a much better chance of executing,' said Maas. 'If you just look at second-down conversion percentage in this league, anything eight-plus (yards) is very difficult to manage, but anything under that is more manageable.' Article content 'It's obviously a hard down to execute on, but the first down is huge,' Bethel-Thompson added. 'The difference between conversion rates on second and medium and second and long is big in this league. It's big in every league. Article content 'We got to be good at first down and we got to be good in the red zone. I think we'll do that and we got a good game plan for it.' Article content While the Alouettes will be without their starting pivot, the Lions (1-3) will welcome back their No. 1 quarterback, Nathan Rourke, on Saturday. Rourke has missed B.C.'s last two games with an oblique injury he sustained late in his team's 34-20 Week 2 loss to Winnipeg on June 12. Article content 'I feel good,' Rourke told reporters following Thursday's practice. 'I think, again, it's one of those things that's just been based on how it responds. I've done a fair amount of stuff this week and continue to try to progress.' Article content The Lions, who are in search of their first road win of the season, will also be counting on Rourke to lead the team out of a three-game losing streak. The 27-year-old Victoria native threw for 573 yards, recording four passing touchdowns to go along with one rushing major in just two games this season.
CTV News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Elks lose home opener to Alouettes, drop to 0-2
Montreal Alouettes' Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund (91) tries to tackle Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (2) during first half CFL action in Edmonton, on Thursday June 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson The Montreal Alouettes are off to their traditional solid start. Tyson Philpot reeled in a pair of touchdown passes as the Alouettes remained perfect on the year with a 38-28 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday. Montreal is 3-0 to start the current campaign, and 9-0 in June over the past three seasons. 'You want to win them all, I don't think we are conceding one. We prepare to win every week,' said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. 'The expectations are very high in our locker room. We are going to continue to grind and to work to get better and to make this start count. We've played three games and won them all and want to continue down that trend.' Quarterback Davis Alexander passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. 'It's just something I've been dealing with for a little bit,' he said. 'It was kind of more cautionary to not go back into the game. We were up 24-6 going on a drive and we didn't necessarily need the risk there.' Edmonton is off to another poor start to the season, dropping to 0-2. The Elks were 0-7 to start last season and 0-9 in 2023. However, they did manage to score 22 points in the final quarter to offer some hope going forward. 'We have fight on our football team,' said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. 'We just got in a hole early, too many explosions on defence. That's on the coaching staff, we've got to get that cleaned up. 'Our offence took a step tonight, which is a positive, but we're still looking for that complete team effort.' The Elks struck on their opening drive as Vincent Blanchard kicked a 42-yard field goal, welcome news after missing both attempts in his team's first game. Montreal answered right back on its first possession as Alexander marched down the field before connecting with Philpot on a six-yard touchdown pass. The Alouettes added to their lead late in the first quarter as a 54-yard pass to Charleston Rambo set up a second strike to Philpot, this time a 13-yard TD reception. Edmonton got a second field goal from Blanchard, from 32 yards, six minutes into the second. Montreal almost had a third major after a long pass interference call against the Elks, but was forced to accept an 11-yard Jose Maltos field goal. The Alouettes continued to dominate with a 38-yard bomb from Alexander to a wide-open Tyler Snead in the end zone with two minutes to play in the first half. The Elks looked poised to cut into the lead just before the end of the first half but a long pass by starting quarterback Tre Ford into the end zone was intercepted by Kabion Ento to keep it 24-6. There was definite cause for concern midway through the third as Alexander clutched his thigh while running after delivering a ball and went down. He left the game and didn't return, with McLeod Bethel-Thompson coming in as his replacement. After a punt single, Montreal added a 26-yard Maltos field goal to close out the third. The Elks finally gave their crowd a reason to cheer to start the fourth as Ford took it in himself for an 18-yard rushing TD, adding a two-point convert pass to Justin Rankin. Maltos responded with his third field goal from 32 yards before Montreal added a 23-yard rushing major from Sean Thomas-Erlington. To its credit, Edmonton kept pushing as Ford found Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a 33-yard touchdown with six minutes left and then went even deeper with a 51-yard TD bomb to Kaion Julien-Grant with 2:35 to play. Notes Alexander is now 7-0 as a starting QB, tying Jeff Garcia and Bo Levi Mitchell for the second-best starts in CFL history. Danny McManus holds the record with an 8-0 record to launch his career … Ford passed the 300-completion and 4,000-yard marks for his career. Up next Alouettes: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, June 27. Elks: Are in Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers on Thursday, June 26. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
Ottawa Citizen
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Players on Alouettes roster bubble get final chance to impress coaches
Article content ST-JÉRÔME — The Alouettes' veteran players have done everything they could through nearly three weeks of training camp to ensure they'll remain with the team. Article content Now, it's up to the CFL rookies to show the coaches they should take a chance on them. Article content 'We've never been shy talking about the competition on this team,' Als head coach Jason Maas said. 'Every single position, every single player, has been told that since Day 1. We've told the vets: 'Don't you dare think that you've made it.' And told the rookies: 'Don't think you're out of it.' Article content Article content 'Every single guy needs to go on that field and feel he can make our team.' Article content Article content The Als play their final exhibition game Friday against the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place (7 p.m., TSN4, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM). The teams played on Saturday in Montreal and, despite veterans playing throughout the first half, the Als were dreadful during a 23-7 defeat — at least on offence. Article content The optics have changed this week, with 37 veteran players not taking the two-hour bus ride to Ottawa. Article content One rookie battling for an Alouettes job is defensive-back Tiawan Mullen. The 5-foot-9, 182-pounder was Indiana University's outstanding defensive player in 2020. In 40 games, he intercepted five passes and forced four fumbles. He was a first-team all-American as a sophomore and spent 2023 with the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. His brother, Trayvon, plays for Baltimore and he's a cousin of Ravens starting QB Lamar Jackson. Article content Article content 'I'm handling this game like any other day,' said the 24-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native. '(Wednesday) I had to buff the car. (Thursday) I'm able to polish it. Once I'm done polishing, the result is going to show on Friday.' Article content The car? 'A Ferrari,' Mullin said. Article content Although the Redblacks are playing at home, head coach Bob Dyce has elected not to dress 29 veterans, including starting quarterback Dru Brown, tailback William Stanback and receiver Eugene Lewis — the latter two former Alouettes. Matt Shiltz, who also played for Montreal, will start at QB. Article content Caleb Evans is scheduled to start at quarterback and is expected to play the first quarter, at least, before being replaced by James Morgan. Mirabel quarterback Jonathan Sénécal, a seventh-round draft choice this year from Université de Montréal, should play the fourth quarter in what will probably be the epilogue of his short-lived pro career.
