A little bit breezy out there, today at Princess Auto Stadium. But with the temperature settling in a seven degrees, that ain’t half bad for mid-November, so we’ll take it.
The script got flipped for Friday’s workouts, with the Alouettes holding an open practice in the morning, and the Roughriders scheduled to follow with a closed session in the afternoon.
I’ll add my takeaways from their media availability a little later on but for now, here are three takeaways from Alouettes practice.
112th GREY CUP
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HE’S FINE. DON’T BELIEVE HIM? WHATEVS
Won’t make you wait, I’ll get right to the million dollar question: How did Davis Alexander look?
In a word? Fine.
“Way better than expected,” Alexander said after practice. “I know I keep saying that. People don’t believe it (or) people believe it, I don’t really care. You’ll see on Sunday.”
Alexander took a ton of reps, he rolled left, he rolled right, he even took off on one play and went for a run to his right. He zipped short passes, he launched a bunch of bombs. No prob.
When the song “Jump Around” came blaring over the loudspeakers, he, you know, jumped around.
However, there’s a pretty big difference between testing that left hamstring out in practice and testing it out in a game.
Like Alexander said: We’ll see on Sunday.
HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY
Will Mustafa Johnson suit up in this weekend’s 112th Grey Cup? (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
One reporter told Montreal head coach Jason Maas that receiver Austin Mack — nursing his own hamstring problems — told him that he was a hundred percent playing in the 112th Grey Cup game.
“We still need to have that conversation of ‘be honest and be up front,’” replied Maas. “Because what we don’t need is (him) going out there, and the ‘want to’ is there, and then you can’t do it.”
Asked about standout defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson — who missed the Eastern Final with a shoulder injury — coach was similarly cautious.
“Another guy that we’ve got to monitor and look at and make a decision on prior to the game,” said Maas.
For his part, Johnson said his outlook was trending upward after a good day at practice.
“I think it’s optimistic, positive,” he said.
I noticed that his practice jersey was torn so I asked him what that was about.
“You gotta hold me to stop me,” he said with a big, big grin.
Held in practice? That’s a pretty good sign.
YOU KNOW THAT SAYING “THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND”? HE’S EXPECTING SOME OF THAT, BOMBER FANS
Montreal linebacker and special teams demon Alexandre Gagné would like to think the Alouettes will be the beneficiaries of some secondhand love from the many, many local fans who’ll be in attendance on Sunday.
After all, would Blue Bombers fans really be okay with the thought of their arch rival Roughriders hoisting the Cup in their beloved team’s own stadium?
“I played three years for the ‘Riders, so I know how much they hate each other and they love hating each other too,” said Gagné. “Like, it’s a fun competition.”
“I just can’t see a (Bombers fan) cheering for the ‘Riders. I just can’t see it because I’ve never… I don’t think it’s something that’s possible.”
He then pointed out, with a smile, that the Alouettes also wear blue and that was something for Winnipeg fans to keep in mind.