For many players still present at the Alouettes’ camp, Friday’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will represent the last chance to leave a good impression on head coach Jason Maas and the management of the Montreal football club.
And many questions remain on the eve of playing this second and final preparatory match, at the Percival-Molson stadium.
“There are still positions at stake, whether it’s receivers, quarterbacks and defensive backs,” noted general manager Danny Maciocia after practice on Tuesday at the Diablos stadium at Cégep de Trois-Rivières. . It’s going to be an interesting match, which promises. Hoping that on Saturday we will have answers. […] We meet at 6 a.m. Saturday morning. We will review the game and make these decisions during the day.
“We still have big questions at the receiving end. The defensive backs, there are a few that amaze us: we want to see how to keep them. On the offensive line, the Canadian content is very good. We have to see who we will dress on June 10 against Ottawa. »
There are still some 20 receivers in camp for the Alouettes and about 15 defensive backs.
On offense, even though the Alouettes won 22-21 against the Rouge et Noir last week, Maas was not entirely satisfied with what he saw.
“I would like to see better execution,” he said. We had several streaks of two tries followed by a clearance. It’s normal for a first preseason game with so many people in uniform, but I think we can execute better. »
Make way for veterans
In addition to the “young guns” wishing to carve out a position, this game against the Ti-Cats will mark the entry into the scene of several veterans, in particular starting quarterback Cody Fajardo and running back William Stanback.
“I can’t wait to get out there,” Fajardo said earlier this week. Staying home last week is not what you want. You don’t feel like a remote team member. But we got all the veterans together to watch the game and cheer them on from afar. We were very happy for them. As a competitor, I would have liked to be there, but I understand that coaches had to evaluate other players. »
“Our veterans would have played last week if we had given them the choice,” admitted Maas. It’s very inspiring. Our veterans set the tone in this camp. They figured out our plan to drop them last week, but they were looking forward to getting the collar back this week. »
One in particular who can’t wait to kick off his season is Stanback. Limited last year due to a serious ankle injury, the halfback is eager to get up to speed.
Aware that he will not play the whole game, he still has a very specific desired workload in mind.
“I would like about fifteen races, but I will take what they give me, he said. I want to make sure the team is ready for us to start winning at the start of the season. I will run as fast as possible when I have the ball! »
“Stanback has been nothing short of impressive in training,” praised Maas. We know he will be a real workhorse this season and he will do a lot of work.
“As for Cody, we’ll see how much we use him. If he has two very good series at the start of the game, I could withdraw him from this moment of the game to give more repetitions to the other three quarters. »
Because the position of No. 2 is still open and Caleb Evans, who has had a difficult camp so far, Davis Alexander and Mike Glass III are all in the race to assist Fajardo.
The kick-off will be given at 7:30 p.m. The Alouettes will then return to the training ground near the Olympic Stadium before kicking off their season on June 10, against the Rouge et Noir, in Montreal.