It’s\u00a0shocking how much can change in six weeks, especially in pro football.<\/p>\n
Back in Week 8, the Montreal Alouettes were sitting where they usually have in the standings over the past couple of seasons\u00a0\u2013 atop the East Division with a 5-2 record.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to where we are now,\u00a0in Week 14, and the season outlook for Quebec’s team is completely different.<\/p>\n
As each week passed, the injury report grew longer and longer, especially at the quarterback position.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First, starter Davis Alexander hit the six-game injured\u00a0list after battling through a hamstring injury to start the season. Then, backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson joined Alexander on the six-game with an elbow injury,\u00a0all before third-string Caleb Evans suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the year.
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\nIf you thought that was bad, Montreal also lost three former East All-CFL nominees in\u00a0defensive lineman\u00a0Mustafa Johnson,\u00a0defensive back\u00a0Marc-Antoine Dequoy, and\u00a0wide receiver\u00a0Austin Mack, as well as former Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian Tyson Philpot.\u00a0
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\nAll of this compounded into a winless August\u00a0as Montreal enters Saturday’s contest against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on a four-game losing streak. The last month of summer wasn\u2019t\u00a0pretty for the Alouettes, as they were\u00a0outscored 119-59, tanking their record to below .500 in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The good news? By the time their Week 14 matchup rolls around, the Als will have had 16 days off in between games, and it’s already paying dividends on the injury front.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All four of those impact players have returned to practice fully and will presumably be able to\u00a0help support 28-year-old James Morgan, the fourth-string quarterback who has been thrust into the starting role.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The former fourth-round NFL draft pick is in line to make his second career start north of the border, after making his first\u00a0back in Week 12 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n
The break, while allowing Montreal to get healthy, has also given Morgan more time to get more comfortable in Montreal’s offence.\u00a0
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\n“It’s\u00a0definitely\u00a0different when you get more than\u00a0one day of\u00a0practice, in terms of game plan, getting the reps, going over the looks, over and over again,”\u00a0Morgan told reporters<\/a> following Tuesday’s practice. “[I’m]\u00a0thankful for that, just trying to take advantage of every single day and get ready for this week.
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\n“Whatever hand I’m dealt I’ll take it, I think [the bye]\u00a0was nice for our team, just getting everybody a little bit of a rest, get everybody\u00a0healthy, I think everybody\u00a0is fired up and ready to go.”
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\n\u00a0All the changes to the roster have presented a challenge for Alouettes head coach Jason Maas. However,\u00a0with the much-needed time off and Morgan getting more experience, the former head coach of the year is expecting the quarterback to be much improved.<\/p>\n