Photo courtesy: CFL/Thomas Skrlj.
The Montreal Alouettes landed in Winnipeg on Monday night and everyone was watching Davis Alexander.
He stopped to sign autographs for kids and then strolled through James Armstrong Richardson International Airport wearing a grey tracksuit with a fresh Grey Cup hat on while walking with a slight limp after re-aggravating his left hamstring injury in the East Final.
“He’s going to be getting treatment all week. There’s stuff to work through, but he’ll work through it. It’s encouraging with the news we got today. He’ll be on a track to play. I know he’s going to start and I know he’s going to play — that’s the bottom line. We gotta work like hell to get him the best he can be and go out there and compete,” head coach Jason Maas said.
“It’s something he’s played with before, it’s something that’s doable, it was good news today and we’ll roll with that. He’s got a lot of work to do from here until then. I don’t know what the percentage would be, to be quite honest with you. I know we got good news today. I know he’s fully capable of playing with it, he’s played with it before.”
Around the midway point in the fourth quarter against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Alexander grabbed his left hamstring after being tackled near the sideline on second down. The Als did not convert, which eventually allowed the Ticats to kick a 23-yard field goal to tie the game at 16-16 with under two minutes remaining.
The 27-year-old Alexander did not miss any plays in the game, taking the field after his team regained possession. He then engineered a seven-play, 37-yard drive leading to a game-winning 45-yard field goal from Jose Maltos Díaz with no time left on the clock. That sent Montreal to the 112th Grey Cup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“Davis will be ready, he’ll start and he’ll play. It’s what he’s been dealing with, so there’s a treatment protocol that goes with that and as the week goes on, he’s going to get stronger and stronger,” Maas said.
“That’s really what ends up happening with those types of injuries. We’ve got a plan for him and we’ve got all hands on deck with him. He’s going to get the best treatment available to us for the next six days and then go from there.”
The five-foot-eleven, 210-pound passer completed 19-of-26 pass attempts for 210 yards, one touchdown, one interception in the victory with the score occurring on a deep ball to Tyler Snead. Alexander also ran the ball seven times for 64 yards in the 19-16 East Final win. Maas said his franchise QB was “pretty close” to 100 percent entering the playoff game in Hamilton.
“I know nobody is 100 percent this time of year. It’s hard to be at 100 percent after 18 games, you play two playoff games, it’s hard to be that. But with adrenaline, with what’s on the line, you push those numbers a little bit and you’re giving it all you’ve got until the end. That’s what all of our guys are going to do,” Maas said.
“I know the type of man he is and what he’s going to put into this, I know the type of help he’s going to get all week, but percentages, I wouldn’t even want to venture what that percentage is going to be. It’s not going to be 100 percent, but I can tell you this: there aren’t too many people, right now, this time of year playing at 100 percent anyways.”
The Gig Harbor, Wa. native missed 11 regular-season games in 2025 due to his left hamstring injury. Montreal went 7-0 with him as the starter and 3-8 when he was unable to play with McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Caleb Evans, and James Morgan at quarterback.
“I’m going to play 100 percent. My whole week will be rehab filled. We’ll be ready to go,” Alexander said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been 100 percent healthy all the year, I think we knew that after the injury I suffered in Toronto. I felt as healthy as healthy as I’ve ever been going into [the East Final], but something that’s gonna have to heal a little bit in the offseason.”
Alexander admitted he was still pretty sore from the game on Saturday, he thought it was the most amount of hits taken in a while. Doctors gave positive news while telling him the degree of his hamstring injury after seeing an MRI. He does not feel as though cold weather is good for the muscle and he’ll use the bike on the sidelines to keep his body warm.
Montreal’s training staff put in two to three treatment sessions on Alexander’s left hamstring per day in recent weeks and that could be upped to four or five per day during Grey Cup week.
“I would say after that Calgary game, the first game I returned in after that week, I felt like I could do everything that I needed to do, everything that I wanted to,” Alexander said.