August 19. You had to go back that far to remember the Alouettes’ last victory. Montreal’s 28-11 win over the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday lifted a huge weight off the shoulders of just about everyone in the Birds.
“We knew it was a big game for us, and we prepared accordingly,” noted receiver Tyler Snead on Tuesday, who played a big role in this victory with six catches for 83 yards. We were ready and this victory was a great relief to us.
“We played in sequence this season [deux victoires, trois défaites, quatre victoires, puis quatre défaites]. Now, we hope that this gain will serve as a springboard for the weeks to come,” he added.
This victory for the Alouettes (7-7) allowed them to regain a two-point priority in second place in the Eastern section. Three of the Birds’ next four duels will also be against teams from their section.
“For the rest of the season, the ranking can change,” added safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy, also a major architect of this victory with six tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. It wasn’t a suicide game for us, in the sense that a win or a loss didn’t affect whether we were in the playoffs, but we knew that for the Stampeders, it could prevent them from making the playoffs. »
“This is how we approached this meeting,” continued the Quebecer. We know that we can beat everyone, even if against the top-3 [Toronto, Winnipeg et la Colombie-Britannique], we were not able to do so. We want to enter the playoffs with the pace of five consecutive victories. »
Several players stood out during this victory and their performances were rewarded, since no less than four Alouettes were part of the performances of the last week in the CFL.
They are Dequoy, running back William Stanback (81 yards on 14 carries, in addition to 19 yards and a touchdown on four passes caught), center Justin Lawrence and Jake Harty. The receiver was honored for his work on special teams, where he made four tackles.
Additional day off
Jason Maas has decided to offer his flock an extra day of rest before beginning physical preparation for Saturday’s match against the Ottawa Rouge et Noir (4-10).
The head coach explained that he felt that his players needed this additional rest in order to properly recover from the night flight: the Alouettes landed in Montreal around 3:30 a.m. Saturday night.
“We crossed the country in the middle of the night and the players are tired. It’s better this way in my opinion, he said. Ottawa already has one more day off than us, so I preferred that we start later in order to have a more cerebral day today. »
“The first days of training are more focused on mental preparation anyway: you don’t do a lot of very physical repetitions that day. I find that today, we were able to accomplish a good job while allowing the players to benefit from an additional day of physical rest,” he summarized.
Davis had had enough
The team announced Monday that defensive end Jamal Davis II requested and received his release from Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia.
Although listed as a starter on the roster sent by the Alouettes before their victory on Saturday, Davis had been dissatisfied with his use for several weeks already.
“I won’t say much other than that he asked to be released and we agreed to his request,” Maas said. We’re not going to keep someone who doesn’t want to be there. When you lead a team, you want everyone to buy into the plan; you can’t drag players who don’t buy into it. I wish him the best of luck and we move on. »
“He has been dissatisfied with his playing time for several weeks already and he has let me know regularly,” said Maciocia, contacted by The Canadian Press. After this great victory against Calgary, he came to my office to once again express his dissatisfaction. I then asked him what he wanted. His response was clear: he wanted to be released. »
“This meeting took place Monday morning. I met Jason and [le coordonnateur en défense] Noel Thorpe. I told them about my encounter and told them what I thought about it. I wanted their opinion and after that meeting, I gave him what he wanted. »
Due to numerous injuries, the Alouettes had to change their ratio of Canadian/American starters on defense, which resulted in Davis being injured. The other aspect that should not be overlooked is that Davis, who is a quarterback chaser, only has three sacks in 14 games on his record.
“It’s a mix of all those things,” Maciocia admitted. Of course, the injuries didn’t help. We needed to improve the ratio and in the end, we are satisfied with the way they play [Shawn] Lemon and Lwal [Uguak]. The decision was easier for us. »
By comparison, Lemon, who has played five fewer games, already has seven sacks, in addition to having thrown two interceptions and forced a fumble.