No one is going to deny it with the Alouettes: the last season was disappointing for the Montreal football club. With a 7-7 record and a first-round elimination against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, to say that the Alouettes have delivered a season below expectations is an understatement.
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Without promising anything for the 2022 season, Khari Jones believes, however, that his club is better prepared to face the new campaign, which will begin Thursday in Calgary.
“It’s a different team, that’s for sure,” he said after training on Tuesday. We have more experience. Many of our guys who were rookies last year have grown up and are elsewhere. Guys like (defensive back Adarius) Pickett, or (safety guard Marc-Antoine) Dequoy, who you can really count on.
“Offensively, I think we are much more mature with many of the same elements in place. The guys are on a better level than they usually are at this point in the season. Obviously, it is in the matches that we will have the proof, but I feel good about the state of our forces. »
Words that resonate with veteran center Kristian Matte.
“We are better prepared and we have more veterans. We saw the mistakes made last year and in 2019. We have better leadership here, whether we’re talking about Trevor Harris and Vernon Adams with the quarterbacks, veterans on the line and in defense, the coaches are also guys with lots of experience. I think there’s a little more attention to detail now. It’s gonna be interesting to see. »
The Alouettes will have no choice but to have a better campaign if they wish to participate in the playoffs, since there should be no lame ducks in the East. The Ottawa Redblacks have made several changes to their roster, the Tiger-Cats should once again dominate the section and the Toronto Argonauts will be no less good than last year.
“That’s what we feel, that the East section is going to be a little stronger this year, indicated Matte. Each year the clubs have something different. We cannot decide right away, we will see it over the weeks. We don’t have many new players here, but I’m very happy with who we have and we don’t think about other teams. »
The key for the Alouettes may well be defense. Best on the circuit last year with 49 sacks, the Alouettes’ defense lost two good elements in David Ménard (eight sacks) and Woody Baron (six).
“Hopefully we can repeat what we did on defense last year,” Jones said. We have many of the same elements in place, we really like our defensive line. These guys have proven they can bother opposing quarterbacks. I add our linebackers to the equation because they have proven to be part of the solution. »
The task promises to be difficult all the same at the start of the season. The Alouettes haven’t had much success in Calgary lately, having only won one in their last 11 games at McMahon Stadium.
The Alouettes and Stampeders will take to the field at 9 p.m. (EDT) Thursday. The Montreal team won’t play its first home game until June 23, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In the meantime, she will move to Toronto to face the Argonauts there next week.