(Montreal) Everything seems to indicate that Caleb Evans will get a second start in a row. The Montreal Alouettes’ No. 2 quarterback took the majority of the rehearsals with the first offensive unit during Wednesday’s practice for Saturday’s game in Ottawa.
Evans replaced Cody Fajardo, who was ruled out after Friday’s warmup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a left shoulder injury suffered a week earlier.
Both Fajardo and head coach Jason Maas indicated on Tuesday that a decision in his case will be made at the last minute, but if we trust what we saw on the synthetic surface at the edge of the Stadium Olympic Wednesday, Fajardo could play third fiddle behind Evans and Davis Alexander against the Rouge et Noir.
Maas and offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo were quick to praise Evans’ work against the Riders. Maas also pointed out that what Evans had achieved was not out of the ordinary.
“He played within his means and respected the framework we provided him,” Maas noted. I think he would only want one play back (the interception in the end zone), but other than that play he stood in his pocket and made no mistakes. »
Evans completed eight of 13 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown against an interception. He added 66 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries to his aerial gains.
“I’d give him a B grade,” said Calvillo, who also serves as quarterbacks coach. He did things well, except for a few games. Sure, the interception in the end zone, but maybe two other plays he misread caused me to give him that rating. We could have made a big play on the outside when Quartney Davis was free, and we also missed a surprise play, but someone was mispositioned on the play and it messed up our blocks, so it’s not completely on him that this failed game comes back.
“Otherwise, he did well. He ran with the ball well and when he had to get out of his covering and approached the sidelines, he got rid of the ball: we didn’t allow sacks or suffer negative plays. It’s huge. »
Evans was able to review his performance and he was quite philosophical in his analysis.
“Like every game, you shouldn’t dwell too much on what you did wrong or what you did right,” he said. You can throw five interceptions and find the positive, just as you can throw four touchdown passes and only see the missed plays.
“For me, I try to find areas of my game that I can improve and work on that in practice. »
One of these aspects is reading the game. Calvillo believes that the interception Evans threw was due to poor reading of the defense: too focused on the course of his receiver, he forgot to look if a second roofer was able to come and lend a hand to the first. That’s what led to this interception.
For a second straight day, the offensive line was also without right guard Kristian Matte, the veteran enjoying another day of treatment.
Offensive line coach Luc Brodeur-Jourdain said Matte came away bruised from the Alouettes’ 41-12 win over the Riders and he’d rather see the No. 51 take care of himself. A decision should be made Thursday on whether or not to participate in the duel against Ottawa.
“Just allow it to recover,” ‘LBJ’ noted. As for whether he will be able to play, he is a player who knows the league well and has a lot of experience. Whether he can recover to his full potential remains to be seen. This will be reassessed (Thursday).
“We have some big meetings coming up. The goal is to have it at its full potential. »
In his absence, Gatineau’s Patrick Davis and American James McGloster alternated as guards. Pier-Olivier Lestage, usually used as a guard on the left, even made a few appearances as a blocker on the same side.
The Alouettes (5-3) will be looking for a fourth straight win at TD Place on Saturday. The Rouge et Noir (3-6) will aim to end their three-game losing streak and secure their first victory against a team from the Eastern section after four consecutive losses.
