The Montreal Alouettes are changing quarterbacks again, only this time it\u2019s a familiar face.<\/p>\n
McLeod Bethel-Thompson is back after missing three games with an elbow injury since losing 23-22 to Edmonton on Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
And if everything goes to plan between now and Saturday, the veteran pivot will start when the slumping Alouettes visit the CFL-leading Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s the expectation,\u201d head coach Jason Maas said. \u201cI think we’re ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bethel-Thompson was removed from the six-game injured list and took first-team reps during practice Tuesday at Stade H\u00e9bert.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old American began the season as Montreal\u2019s backup after Edmonton dealt him to the Alouettes in an off-season swap for Cody Fajardo, but took over under centre when franchise QB Davis Alexander went down with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n
Viewed as a solid Plan B because of his CFL pedigree \u2014 including a Grey Cup championship as a starter with Toronto in 2022 \u2014 Bethel-Thompson hasn\u2019t found much success in Montreal.<\/p>\n
In five starts, he has a 1-4 record this season, throwing for 957 yards on 100-for-153 passing (65.4 per cent) with four touchdowns and five interceptions.<\/p>\n
Fourth-stringer James Morgan threw for one touchdown and three interceptions as the starter in Montreal\u2019s last two games, capped by a 26-9 blowout to Hamilton that stretched the team\u2019s losing skid to five.<\/p>\n
Amid the quarterback chaos \u2014 third-stringer Caleb Evans is also out for the season with a knee injury \u2014 the Alouettes also signed Cameron Dukes and Shea Patterson in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
But for now, Montreal is banking on Bethel-Thompson\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n
“We have six quarterbacks in the locker room right now, and there are some that don’t have a ton of experience,\u201d general manager Danny Maciocia said. \u201cDuring this time of the year when you need that experience and to surround yourself with players who\u2019ve played in those situations, who’ve won games, there aren’t many who’ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maas added that while Bethel-Thompson\u2019s record isn\u2019t stellar, he\u2019s the only Alouettes quarterback besides Alexander to win a game this season, and two of his losses were by a single point.<\/p>\n
“He’s won for us, he’s a veteran in the league,\u201d Maas said. \u201cThat veteran presence, you don’t buy, and I think he has it. He was dealing with some stuff and playing at the same time, and obviously we sat him for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maciocia and Maas also pushed back at the notion Montreal is rushing him back because they\u2019re out of answers.<\/p>\n
“Over the last three games, if James (Morgan) would’ve went out and lit it up, he still would be back,\u201d Maas said of Bethel-Thompson. \u201cIt’s just now we’d be evaluating a little bit differently, but the fact of the matter is that didn’t happen. And Bethel is healthy, so he’s been cleared to play, so obviously we’re going to always go with the best option for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bethel-Thompson\u2019s recovery included an injection in his right elbow, the team confirmed, and weeks of rehab, but he called the layoff \u201ca good time to reset.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also insists the Alouettes remain in position to turn things around, even if it looks grim from the outside.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a great team, we\u2019ve got great talent. We have as good a shot as anybody, and we hold our own destiny in our hands down the stretch,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat better opportunity than this? So if this is the path that gets us to where we want to go, what a beautiful path to walk.”<\/p>\n
The wait for Alexander, meanwhile, continues.<\/p>\n
Montreal has a 1-7 record without Alexander, who is undefeated in all eight of his starts in the CFL.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old practised in a limited capacity Tuesday, subbing in for the occasional play and running sprints on the sideline, but Maciocia said he won\u2019t be an option this week \u2014 and likely not next week either.<\/p>\n
The GM added there\u2019s a \u201cstrong possibility\u201d Montreal gives Alexander an extra week to recover once doctors give him the green light.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment we put Davis in the lineup, we want to have him for the rest of the season,\u201d Maciocia said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about Davis almost every day, at least three or four times a week. Was the option to play this week on the table? No, but it\u2019s getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
After visiting Saskatchewan (10-2), Montreal hosts Toronto in a game that could have major playoff implications, with the Argonauts (4-8) breathing down the Alouettes\u2019 neck for second place in the East Division.<\/p>\n
In other news Tuesday, running back Sean Thomas Erlington has been moved to the six-game injured list. The 33-year-old suffered an upper-body injury against Hamilton last weekend.<\/p>\n
To help fill the backfield, the Alouettes signed American running back Eno Benjamin, who was released last week by Calgary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Montreal Alouettes are changing quarterbacks again, only this time it\u2019s a familiar face. McLeod Bethel-Thompson is back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-132935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}