On Sunday, the Grey Cup itself arrived.
On Monday, it was the players’ turn to touch down in Winnipeg, at Richardson International Airport, where the head coaches and a few select players fielded a few questions about the week and the game ahead.
Here are four takeaways from the 112th Grey Cup team arrivals.
112th GREY CUP
» Saskatchewan, Montreal to compete in the 112th Grey Cup
» Gallery: Als, Riders arrive in Winnipeg for 112th Grey Cup
» 3 reasons why Trevor Harris, Davis Alexander will lead team to victory
» Who has the edge in the 112th Grey Cup?
» Gallery: Als, Riders land in Winnipeg for 112th Grey Cup
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION CAME RIGHT AWAY
#GreyCup | @MTLAlouettes pic.twitter.com/TOwI6hekoZ
— CFL (@CFL) November 11, 2025
Davis Alexander got something from his podium appearance that quarterbacks would dearly love to have all of the time; He absolutely, positively knew what was coming.
Questions about his tender hamstring.
“I’m gonna play, a hundred per cent,” said the Alouettes pivot, insisting that there is no way he will miss the opportunity for his first ever Grey Cup start.
In aggravating that left hammy of his in Saturday’s Eastern Final win over Hamilton, Alexander admitted that his week ahead will be filled with tons and tons of treatment.
“You know, my whole week will be rehab-filled, but haven’t fully gone over like the practice plan yet,” he told a gathering of reporters.
Davis indicated that he doesn’t yet really know how the injury will feel since he hasn’t been on the field to test it out any time since the Eastern Final.
At any rate, when he says rehab, he means A LOT of rehab.
“Probably lean (towards) four, five treatments a day,” he said.
PRESSURE’S WHAT YOU PUT IN TIRES
Trevor Harris spoke to the media after arriving in Winnipeg for the 112th Grey Cup (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris was the one who provided that headline, saying those words as he shrugged off the notion that he might be facing an awful lot of internal pressure, considering that he is searching for his first Grey Cup championship as a starter, at the age of 39 years old.
“I totally get it,” said Harris of the narrative that will be one of the big ones to dominate this week.
“I’ve been playing for a while and made it here a couple times now, and it sure would be awesome,” he continued. “But I think I’d just be more excited to do this with my teammates, more so than, like, getting this proverbial monkey off your back, or whatever it is.”
“To finish the job is really what kind of motivates me, not really anything to do with my career,” he said.
In expanding on his motivations for this Sunday’s game, Harris talked about some of the Saskatchewan natives on his team, mentioning the likes of offensive lineman Logan Ferland, receiver Mitch Picton, long snapper Jorgen Hus, and offensive coordinator Marc Mueller.
Harris says he knows just how big this would be for guys like those, especially.
“I kind of just saw the joy in their face after we won the West final,” he said.
2025 HITS A BIT DIFFERENT FOR THE ALS
Back when the Alouettes marched to a victory in the 110th Grey Cup, they capped a season in which they rose from the ashes in order to lift the ol’ mug.
Picked by many to be dead last in the CFL that year, the Als used that insult as motivational dynamite, capped by quarterback Cody Fajardo’s famous “bleep” you, just watch speech.
This year, they arrive at the Grey Cup not as axe-grinders but as a team that’s been highly-respected for a lot if not all of the season.
Motivations for this week, head coach Jason Maas explained, are a little different. They have to be.
“So that year,” Maas said, “the FYJW, that was the motivation guys used.”
“But since then, we’ve built a solid foundation on work and work ethic, and our guys do a tremendous job staying planted where their feet are, every single day, putting that work in.”
“When you put that work in with your teammates, you believe anything’s possible.”
So BAP replaces FYJW, then.
HE USED TO HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THE ALOUETTES. USED TO.
Samuel Emilus spoke to members of the media after arriving in Winnipeg for the 112th Grey Cup (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
Roughriders’ receiver Samuel Emilus has clear and fond memories of a Grey Cup that lives in the pits of the stomachs of each and every Roughriders fan.
Emilus remembers the infamous 2009 “13th Man game,” where the Alouettes first missed a field goal but then won it when a too many men on the field penalty gave them a do-over. One they made good on in a 28-27 win.
“I was 12-years-old,” said Emilus. “I was rooting for the Alouettes ‘cause that was my hometown team.”
Not this time, that’s for sure. But taking on the Als in his first Grey Cup appearance gives the 28-year-old a real charge.
“The fact that it’s my first Grey Cup and it’s against this team, it’s only gonna make the experience even better, you know?
“I’m excited for the opportunity. It’s truly special.”
Emilus name-checked former Alouette star receivers SJ Green and Jamel Richardson as boyhood heroes that are embedded in his memory banks.
Nothing he’d like more than to replace those fond memories with some fresh, more personal ones this Sunday.