It’s early in the season, but already, the Montreal Alouettes find themselves in an uncomfortable position, with a 0-2 record on the eve of playing their first local game, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, perfect so far.
Not to mention a match that absolutely must be won, the players and coaches of the Montreal football club are aware of the importance of this duel, presented at the Percival-Molson stadium starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Add to that that club owner Gary Stern has been all fired up on social media for the past few weeks, predicting win over win (he even predicted the Alouettes would “kill” the Toronto Argonauts last week). , before apologizing for his choice of words), and there you have the recipe for making everyone feel a little more pressured.
“I don’t know if this is a game that we absolutely have to win, but we definitely don’t want to lose in front of our fans,” said quarterback Trevor Harris during practice. on Tuesday, after admitting earlier that there is “a sense of urgency” among head coach Khari Jones’ troops.
The latter must also begin to smell the hot soup. He removed Vernon Adams Jr. from the starting quarterback position in the second quarter of the game against the Argos last week, very little leeway for a quarterback designated as the No.oh 1 by everyone in the organization before the start of the season.
He also made changes on the left flank of the offensive line, he who has been dissatisfied with the work of Chris Schleuger since the start of the season.
” [Nick] Callendar will enter the game. Schleuger will not play this week. We know he can play better than he has in the last two weeks. We liked what we’ve seen from Callendar so far and we want to give him the opportunity to play,” said Jones, who will also use David Brown as a substitute, but on the right side.
“We have good football players on this side of the line,” added Harris, who has complete confidence in his teammates in front of him. Nick Callendar has very good skills, and I couldn’t trust him more. [Brown et Callendar]. »
Regardless of who is used on the line on offense, these players will have a good night’s work: the Roughriders have already scored 13 sacks in two games and apply constant pressure on defense.
“They’re very good,” Jones said. They do a lot of stuff with their linebackers and their defensive line. But we have an experienced offensive line, and I’m sure they’ll react in the right way. But we will have to get rid of the ball quickly sometimes because they do a lot of different things. »
Harris will also have a different target this week in Dante Absher, who enters in place of Jake Wieneke. Bothered by a hamstring injury since the start of camp, Wieneke has struggled to do himself justice, and Absher has been preferred to him in the lineup.
In the backfield, Jeshrun Antwi is still Jones’ go-to guy, even though he had a tough outing in Toronto. He will be assisted by Walter Fletcher.
“We intend to use both players,” said the coach.
Adams will not be able to act as a substitute for Harris, since he has contracted COVID-19. It is Dominique Davis who will be the noh 2, and Davis Alexander will complete the trio of quarterbacks. Linebacker Chris Ackie is also sidelined with an injury. Guard Philippe Gagnon, who missed Tuesday’s practice, will be in the training, however.