Alouettes, Lions looking to redeem themselves in Labour Day weekend clash
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Montreal Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo is eager to get back on track Saturday after last week didn’t go to plan.
The Alouettes host the B.C. Lions at Molson Stadium following a 47-17 loss in Winnipeg last Thursday where Fajardo threw just 137 yards with one turnover and no touchdowns, ending a four-game win streak.
Montreal (6-4) was coming off a short turnaround, with five days between games before facing the Blue Bombers, and Fajardo was returning from a two-game injury absence.
With a full week of practice under his belt, Fajardo is feeling better heading into the Labour Day Weekend contest, the Alouettes' second meeting with the Lions after losing in B.C. in July.
“We didn't play our best game the week prior against Winnipeg,” Fajardo said at Olympic Park. “So we're all excited just to have a full week of prep this week, myself included.
"I feel a little bit more comfortable with the offence again, and with the receivers and the timing, so I think things will be much better.”
Both Montreal and B.C. are comfortably in second place in their respective divisions. A loss for either, and a chance to contend for first gets trickier.
The Lions (7-4) are also coming off a bad outing last week, losing 30-13 to the now 4-6 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. B.C. is on a two-game losing streak after falling 34-29 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-5) the week before.
B.C. began the season very strong defensively, and still tops the CFL in points allowed with 19.7 per game — two shutouts against the Edmonton Elks help. However, the Lions have allowed 30 or more points in three of their last four games.
Alouettes head coach Jason Maas thinks it’s a matter of teams seeing more film throughout the season and finding ways to exploit defences, adding: “It’s hard to play perfect all season long.”
Fajardo is reluctant to put too much weight into recent results, but did identify the run game as something the Alouettes could exploit to build a better offensive rhythm than last week.
"We know we got to stay on the field against this B.C. Lions team and one way to do it, watching the tape, last week Hamilton was able to run the ball against them,” said Fajardo. “That seems to be kind of a recipe to stay on the field versus their good, stingy defence.”
Lions head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell is expecting the Alouettes to want to run the ball after B.C. was “pushed around up front” last week.
Campbell outlines two things the Lions need to do to right the ship.
“We need to limit the big plays, which we normally do and we haven't done that consistently lately,” he told The Canadian Press, “and then tackling, we were a very good tackling team and that fell off a bit.”
On offence, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. will start in Montreal for the first time since he was traded by the Alouettes last year.
Adams, who’s played parts of six seasons over two stints with the Alouettes, has at times been elite this season but has also had some poor outings. He’s second in the league in passing yards (2,651), touchdown passes (17) — and interceptions (11).
He says he’s excited to go to Montreal, but is ultimately focused on getting a good result.
“I spent seven years there, it’s always special (to go back),” he told reporters this week. “I just wanna go there and get a win, most importantly.”
He’ll be up against a Montreal defence dealing with injuries after all-star defensive back Wesley Sutton and linebacker Tyrell Richards left last week’s game and have been ruled out for Saturday.
However, defensive back Ciante Evans, who had three interceptions in two games before sustaining a leg injury earlier this year, will return to the lineup.
Veteran receiver Greg Ellingson is also set to make his Alouettes debut after being a full participant in practice this week.
Ellingson was one of the Alouettes’ biggest signings in free agency, tabbed in pre-season as the new No. 1 receiver after the team lost Eugene Lewis to Edmonton but he was placed on the six-game injured list to start the year.
"Think I've been around long enough for it to not be weird, it feels comfortable, I feel at home out there," said Ellingson of starting with a new team midseason. "When I was finally actually able to practice this week, it's pretty exciting."
The Alouettes did just fine without him, thanks in large part to the emergence of rookies Austin Mack, who leads the league in receiving yards, and Tyler Snead.
Mack wore a red shirt in practice this week and says he's going through protocol after he exited last week’s game with a concussion, but expects to be ready on Saturday.
After that, Montreal has a home-and-home with the East’s first-place Toronto Argonauts as a difficult stretch in the season continues.
B.C., meanwhile, has division bottom dwellers Ottawa and Edmonton up next.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2023.