MONTREAL — It was expected given the absence of key players in practice, but the Alouettes’ roster released Friday morning confirmed what was feared: a reshaped Montreal defence will have to slow down the Edmonton Elks at Molson Stadium.
Middle linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (adductor), defensive backs Najee Murray (head) and Wesley Sutton (calf), and defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson (knee) will all miss Saturday’s matchup between the CFL’s top two teams.
Head coach Jason Maas said the absences wouldn’t change his approach against former Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo and the Elks (6-2), who lead the West Division and handed the Alouettes (7-1) their only loss this season.
“I don’t know that we’re worried about anybody being out or not being out right now,” Maas said this week. “We’ve got 70-odd players here in our building and every single one of them with the expectations they can go in and play for us and play at a high level. So that is the least of our concern.
“The guys that are filling in for them have all played, all started.”
Micah Awe will replace Cantin-Arku as the starting middle linebacker, while Faion Hicks takes Murray’s spot. Decarius Hawthorne and Ty Anderson will split time at Johnson’s position, and defensive end David Perales has been removed from the six-game injured list to replace T.J. Guy.
The matchup features plenty of intrigue as Fajardo — and former Alouettes receiver Austin Mack — return to Montreal following Edmonton’s 28-26 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.
“At the end of the day, they shipped me and Cody out of there,” Mack told reporters in Edmonton this week. “It’s always great to be able to go back there and try and whip their ass at home.”
The 34-year-old Fajardo helped lead the Alouettes to a Grey Cup in 2023 before Montreal traded him to Edmonton following the 2024 season, handing Davis Alexander the keys to the offence.
In their first head-to-head matchup, Fajardo dealt Alexander his first — and so far, only — regular-season loss as a CFL starter (18-1) as the Elks defeated the Alouettes 32-29 in overtime at home in Week 3.
“They’ve done a great job thus far. We’ve already played them in their building, we know what they’re about, and they’ve done an extremely good job,” Maas said. “We’re gonna have to play four quarters like we do, for 60 minutes or however long it takes. The last one took a little longer than that.”
Fajardo knows the Alouettes’ defence has taken some hits but still won’t underestimate a veteran group he’s more than familiar with.
“I just know them as well as anybody, playing against them for two years when I was in Montreal, and everybody wants to talk about how their defence is having a down year, and I’m like, ‘What down year?’” he said earlier this week. “They’re turning the ball over, they’re flying around, they’re getting sacks, they’re putting pressure on quarterbacks.”
On the other side of the ball, Fajardo also gave credit to his former backup and the Alouettes’ offence.
Alexander led the CFL with 2,788 passing yards through Week 9, while Montreal’s Tyson Philpot (1,023 yards) and Tyler Snead (794 yards) topped the receiving charts.
“Montreal is a tough place to play; I know it personally. Last year we were able to sneak out a win at the end of the year, but they’re on a different level this year,” Fajardo said. “With Davis being healthy, you gotta do everything you can as an offence to keep their offence on the sideline, because they’re pretty high flying right now.”
Edmonton’s Justin Rankin ran rampant in their last meeting, rushing for 179 yards and two touchdowns while adding five receptions for 51 yards. To say he’ll be one to watch Saturday would be an understatement.
Maas added that limiting turnovers on offence and executing tackles on defence will be key to tying the season series.
“We turned over the ball a couple of times offensively in areas to score … if you don’t do that, that game’s probably not as close,” he said. “I know tackling was what we talked about after the game, about how to tackle (Rankin), doing a better job on him.
“I thought he made some outstanding plays in that game when we thought we had him.”
The matchup could give Alouettes fans — and the CFL as a whole — an early preview of a potential Grey Cup matchup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2026.
Frédéric Daigle, The Canadian Press
