The Alouettes | Will Khari Jones keep his post?

The Alouettes’ staff will meet with members of the media to take stock of the end of the season on Thursday afternoon at Olympic Stadium. On Tuesday, it was the team’s players who answered journalists’ questions and the observation was the same for everyone: the 2021 Alouettes underperformed and lost too many games due to their lack of discipline and their errors, including Sunday’s in Hamilton.

Miguel bujold
Press

“We had high hopes for this season and we know that we are a much better team than what we have shown this year. We have to come together and come back better and smarter to make sure we do things the right way to win more, ”said running back William Stanback.

“Everyone in our locker room believes that we have a better team than what we have shown on the pitch. We are still convinced to this day that we are a better team than our opponent at the weekend (Hamilton Tiger-Cats). But we didn’t manage to do what we had to and certain details, including penalties, came back to haunt us, ”said kicker David Côté.

“We may well think that we are better than the others, but if we commit five turnovers and have more than 100 penalty yards, it does not take more to sink us”, added the Quebecer referring to the defeat in the Eastern semifinals.

“The most frustrating thing is that I still think we had a club to go all the way and achieve top honors. But football is a sport of details and mistakes, and we shot each other in the foot, ”summarized David Ménard, who suffered a concussion in Hamilton. The defensive end said he was feeling good on Tuesday.

This was indeed the story of the season of Sparrows: self-destruction. The question is, who is to blame?

Be accountable

If the Alouettes’ invitation is to be relied upon, Khari Jones will be at the team’s press conference on Thursday. But when he was fired in 2016, Jim Popp was also to be present at the end of the season… He had already left for North Carolina when the journalists arrived at the Olympic Stadium.

When asked a question of Stanback about a potential coach change, the running back replied that he preferred not to talk about it. Strange. As for Eugene Lewis, he recalled that members of a professional football team knew the risks associated with repeated mistakes.

“At a certain point, you can’t just apologize for making mistakes. We are professionals and we must be accountable. If you don’t correct your mistakes, you will probably end up losing your job. This is how it works everywhere else. The margin for error in professional sport is very small and you cannot repeat the same mistakes over and over again, ”commented Lewis.

Adams Jr.’s team?

For what it’s worth, Vernon Adams Jr. attended the club’s video conference on Tuesday, unlike Trevor Harris. Adams Jr., however, had received no guarantees from the organization about his future with the team when he spoke to reporters.

“I am under contract for next season and I will work according to the next training camp. ”

“I’m going to prepare as best I can and we’ll see what happens. I know I have to prove to this city, myself and my family that I deserve to be a starting quarterback in the CFL. ”

If he is back with the Als, Adams Jr. hopes he will reunite with Jones. According to him, the head coach deserves to keep his position.

” Definitively. Khari is my man. We had several seasons of misery and it was when he arrived that the team took off. Our record was not what we wanted (7-7) this season, but we still made the playoffs two years in a row. He’s the man for the job and I hope he will be back next season and be here with him. He has my 100% support. ”

According to Lewis, there is little doubt that the starting quarterback position should go to Adams Jr.. The star receiver reckons he would be able to lead his people to the Gray Cup game.

“Not being able to count on Vernon has surely affected our team at one point or another, because he’s our quarterback and he’s the one who will take us to the next step. But when (Matthew) Shiltz and Trevor (Harris) played, we were confident in them, too, ”said the wide end.

Lewis could also obtain autonomy in February. Does he expect to be back in Montreal in 2022?

“For the moment, I still have not digested our loss last Sunday. I’ll be thinking about all of this soon, but I still have time to think about it. I will chat with my agents, the other coaches, Danny (Maciocia) and Mario (Cecchini). ”

Ménard: easy decision

Like Lewis’, defensive end David Ménard’s contract will expire in a few months. Named the best Canadian player and the club’s best defensive player of the year in 2021, Ménard wants to stay with the Alouettes.

“It’s clearly my wish, but we all know that the CFL is a league where there are a lot of changes from year to year. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I would love to be back with the team. ”

In 2019, Ménard was released from the BC Lions before being rehired by the team. His career in the CFL seemed uncertain. Things have changed dramatically this year.

Ménard has just had the best campaign of his career and has proven that he can be a starting player on the defensive line. He is one of the best Quebec players in the CFL, if not the best. His future in the CFL looks secure for the next few years, although Ménard doesn’t want to take anything for granted.

“I never doubted I could play in the CFL, but I think the season has indeed served to establish me and prove it. I would love to stay here for several years and end my career with the Alouettes, but you never know what the CFL has in store for us. ”

Not only is Ménard a very good player, he quickly became one of the team members most appreciated by the Montreal media, especially for his outspokenness. Always interesting and generous with his time.

The future in the team of some members of the Alouettes seems uncertain at the moment, but it would be extremely surprising if Ménard does not get a new contract soon. Danny Maciocia led Ménard with the University of Montreal Carabins and you can bet he won’t let him go.