(Montreal) The Alouettes’ poor performance in the paying zone once again fueled discussions after the Montreal football club’s practice on Tuesday.
But according to Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo, we should not worry too much about these failures.
“As a person who calls games, I analyze all of these games,” said Maas, who said after Saturday’s 34-25 loss to the BC Lions, he was primarily responsible for the failures. his own beyond the opponent’s 20 line.
“We’ll make the fixes, but whatever games are called, we have to run them. When we start doing that, we’ll be a better team. »
“We’ve gone through all of this in depth, especially Jason. It’s not rocket science, but it’s a bunch of stuff that just doesn’t work when we get to the 20 line, Fajardo added. It’s a challenge for us, but I know we will be better. We only need to be successful once or twice to get going again. »
And what exactly is the key to reviving the Alouettes in the pay zone?
“First, don’t give the ball to the opponent,” said the quarterback, the victim of a costly interception in the end zone against the Lions. “We’ve had four turnovers in the pay zone this season. Personally, it is to make better decisions when you are in this part of the field.
“I don’t think we’re more nervous. But I know that, for my part, it can happen that we are a little more tired after a long offensive push and that is where certain errors can occur. So I have to arrive in better shape. Prior to this season, I had never thrown an interception from the pay zone and I have thrown two this season. There’s something that’s not working so well for me anymore and I have to find it in order to fix it to finish these pushes with touchdowns.
“The good news is that we still have time to fix this. The bad news is that there are only seven games left, so the weather is still pushing us a bit. »
The Alouettes announced Tuesday that they have signed American defensive lineman Damontre Moore, a former third-round pick, 81st overall, of the New York Giants in 2013.
Moore, a 6’5″, 260 lb colossus, won the Gray Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022. The 30-year-old Texas native spent nine seasons in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and Giants.
In 66 games on the Goodell Circuit, Moore had 97 tackles, 11 sacks, four fumbles and one recovery. He also racked up 12 tackles for a loss.
Moore’s arrival is not meant to be a disavowal of Maas’s defensive line, which has had more trouble putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks in the last two outings for his team.
“I’m watching the production of our defense and we won’t be able to reach the opposing quarterback on every play. We’ve joined Vernon Adams on a few occasions, but he’s a quarterback that moves well and makes the defense look bad. What hurts is that the two times we joined him for a sack, penalties for roughing up the passer were imposed instead. It could have been a game-changer, a change in his thinking if the bags had been maintained. […] You have to look at the whole. I like the passion of our defense and the way they play. »
In addition, the Birds have also added Americans Parnell Motley, Dishon McNary, Trey Ragas and Kameron Brown to their practice squad.
The news doesn’t look good in the case of defensive back J.R. Reed, who left the game with help from teammates with a leg injury on Saturday.
“We are still awaiting test results for J.R. Reed. The prognosis doesn’t look very good, but we’ll wait for the results of the exams before revealing anything,” said Maas, whose tone of voice did not bode well.
The Alouettes’ secondary has been hit hard this season. Facing the Lions, only two starters in the first game of the season were in uniform among the six starting defensemen: Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Ciante Evans.
Had it not been for Evans’ return to the roster after an absence of seven games, Dequoy would have been alone in his clan.