It’s not just Vernon Adams Jr. who will be back in Montreal in a BC Lions uniform Friday night at Percival-Molson Stadium. This will also be the case for Antonio Pipkin, David Ménard and John Bowman, who is in his first season as a defensive line coach.
Posted at 6:13 p.m.
“They’re definitely coming to town and they’ll want to look good. They will give everything, and it will be very important for us to have the intensity,” said Danny Maciocia after practice with the Alouettes on Wednesday.
Obtained by the Lions last week, will Adams Jr. be the starting quarterback for his new team? Will he instead share the job with Pipkin, who got a few starts with the Alouettes in 2018, or with Canadian Michael O’Connor? Adams Jr. will most likely replace the excellent Nathan Rourke down the stretch, but in the short term, only the Lions know how they will use their quarterbacks.
Pipkin’s and Adams’ playing styles are very similar, but it’s a bit different in O’Connor’s case. We therefore studied the videotapes of the three quarterbacks knowing that it is possible that we face one or two different quarterbacks. It is very important that we are mentally ready.
Danny Maciocia, General Manager and Head Coach of the Alouettes
In addition to not knowing the Lions’ strategy behind the center, the Alouettes’ defense will be up against the most explosive group of receivers in the CFL. Bryan Burnham, Dominique Rhymes, Lucky Whitehead and Keon Hatcher will test a fragile secondary, which is still looking for the right recipe after 11 games.
“It’s an attack that represents a considerable challenge for the long game so we will have to be consistent and solid in our techniques,” warned Noel Thorpe.
As the defensive coordinator himself mentioned on Wednesday, many of the long plays conceded by the Montreal defense were attributable to bad tackles, a recurring problem since the start of the season and which resurfaced in the loss of 38 -24 against Ottawa last Friday.
“I think we play well defensively, but when we struggled and allowed long plays, it was usually because we missed tackles. And to be a good defense, you have to know how to tackle. Defenses capable of winning a championship are built from that,” Thorpe noted.
In order to promote player health and safety, training with shoulder pads is restricted in the CFL. Teams can only do this for 45 minutes per week and for a maximum of 12 times per season.
“I’m not going to use that as an excuse. We often practiced without our shoulder pads in the days of Don Matthews. You just have to make sure you are well positioned in order to be able to make a success of our tackle, it’s not more complicated than that. »
The problem with Harris
If Thorpe is of the opinion – and with good reason – that bad tackles are the source of the problems of his defense, Anthony Calvillo, he knows that it is the turnovers that weigh down his attack. And the main responsible for these turnovers is Trevor Harris, who committed three against the Red and Black (two interceptions and a fumble).
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, THE PRESS
Trevor Harris
“We talked about it with Trevor. Everything is going well, except this aspect. Turnovers hurt us in Saskatchewan, against Edmonton and Winnipeg (at Montreal) and Friday (against Ottawa). That’s our biggest problem,” Calvillo said.
Harris has 10 interceptions in as many games this season and has thrown two in each of the four games Calvillo referred to, all losses.
“I have to help him by choosing games he feels comfortable with. »
Another way to help Harris is with an effective ground game. Calvillo explained that the Alouettes had, among other things, success by running in the last game because the Rouge et Noir often used two marauders in deep areas (cover two), which had the effect of opening up certain corridors. race. Running backs Walter Fletcher and Jeshrun Antwi totaled 118 yards on 14 carries.
“I have to make sure that I don’t give up on the ground game, even if we don’t have success on a few plays,” admitted Calvillo. “It’s the same as the pass. I’m not going to stop picking aerial plays because we had a few incomplete passes. This is important for our linemen, who want to be able to block forwards (ground plays) and not just backwards (passing plays). »