Maas: ‘Zero chance’ Alouettes make quarterback change
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The Montreal Alouettes had their four-game winning streak snapped in emphatic fashion last Thursday following a 47-17 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Quarterback Cody Fajardo struggled in his return to the lineup following a two-game absence due to a shoulder injury, completing just 14-of-25 passes for 137 yards, one interception, and two fumbles.
Backup Caleb Evans led the team to a pair of wins over the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Redblacks in Fajardo’s absence, raising questions about the quarterback hierarchy in Montreal following the loss.
Head coach Jason Maas told TSN690 on Wednesday morning there is no QB controversy, and that Fajardo will continue as the team’s starter moving forward.
“Zero chance of [a quarterback switch] happening. That’s not even in our consideration or thought process,” Maas said. “Caleb was great for us, but this is Cody’s team as far as the quarterback position goes.
“I have a ton of faith in Cody and so does the rest of the staff and players. One game isn’t going to change that thought process. It’s about all of us as a team getting better and I know Cody is one of the guys that’s going to get better from [this loss].”
Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia echoed the same sentiment on Tuesday, saying the loss was a team effort and had nothing to do with Fajardo’s play.
“This loss has nothing to do with Cody Fajardo in my opinion. This is just a team loss,” Maciocia said on Melnick in the Afternoon. “If that’s the type of performance we would've given any quarterback, we would’ve gotten the same type of result, in my opinion.”
Maas says the team can take plenty of lessons from the blowout loss and stressed the need to use it as motivation to learn and improve.
“Losses are losses but if you learn from them, they’re motivating and a way to get better. There are obviously things in that game that we can improve upon, and I think you take it as a learning experience and you get better from it,” said Maas. “Any time you lose any game that should be your mentality but, in that case, a game like that where we started off fast and then the third quarter didn’t go our way and it spiraled out from there. There’s a lot of things to take from the game that we can learn from.”
After playing the Blue Bombers on short rest, the Als (6-4) will have more than a week to prepare for a home game against the BC Lions on Saturday. The Lions (7-4) enter the Week 13 matchup on a two-game losing streak and Maas says his team will need to be prepared to host a highly motivated Lions team at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
“You expect a great team to come in here. They’ve got a powerful offence, defence and great special teams. They’ve lost a couple games and they’re highly motivated, so we’ll have to go out, play fast, play physical and ultimately make one more play than they make to come out with the victory. We’re going to put in the work this week to win.”