{"id":174052,"date":"2025-09-27T23:10:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T23:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/174052\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T23:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T23:10:13","slug":"hes-different-davis-alexander-sets-cfl-record-while-posting-single-game-career-high-passing-yards-in-alouettes-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/174052\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He’s different’: Davis Alexander sets CFL record while posting single-game, career-high passing yards in Alouettes return"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: CFL<\/p>\n

As one CFL source summed it up, \u2018He\u2019s different.\u2019 That was in reference to Davis Alexander\u2019s excellent performance in his return to the starting quarterback role with the Montreal Alouettes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s worked extremely hard, a lot of lonely time to get back and put it all on the line again. Our whole team feels a bit different. He\u2019s won every game he\u2019s started for us; it\u2019s hard not to believe when he\u2019s out there. Does Davis make us a better football team? Absolutely. There\u2019s proof in that,\u201d head coach Jason Maas said post-game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stats will show you that, the record will show you that \u2014 there\u2019s a belief there. But there\u2019s also a belief if it so happens he doesn\u2019t play for us, we can still win without him. I\u2019d prefer not to have to worry about that, I\u2019d rather him finish the season as strong as possible and be our starting quarterback every game. He elevates people\u2019s play; that\u2019s what he does when he\u2019s on the football field. There\u2019s a confidence that goes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander completed 26-of-38 passes for a single-game, career-high 350 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions while rushing one time for eight yards in a convincing 38-20 win over the Calgary Stampeders in Week 17. The 26-year-old\u2019s outing was his first start for Montreal since Week 7, after he missed eight games with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was coasting a little bit. I\u2019m going to choose my spots carefully. I definitely played a little more cautious, which was part of the game plan. I appreciate the coaches and I appreciate the training staff for putting trust in me. I told them I could tone it down \u2014 I can be a gamer in other ways than with my legs,\u201d Alexander said, referring to his left hamstring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely sore, but it\u2019s a different feeling than what it was two months ago. This bye week is massive. I don\u2019t want to get into too many details. We don\u2019t play again until [October] 13, I feel pretty good. It\u2019s a different type of soreness; it\u2019s hard to simulate game stress. That\u2019s why it was very important for me to play this game. We come back, we play on [October] 13 and then 18, that\u2019s a pretty tough ask for me 83 days later.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five-foot-11, 210-pound signal caller made CFL history by becoming the first QB to start a career with nine straight wins. He has gone a perfect 5-0 in 2025 to go along with a 4-0 record last year while filling in for Cody Fajardo. Alexander surpassed the previous mark set by Hall of Famer Danny McManus, who went 8-0 to begin his CFL career. Bo Levi Mitchell and Jeff Garcia started 7-0 in the CFL, while Darian Durant, Damon Allen, Joe Zuger and Jim Van Pelt went 6-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe record shows that,\u201d Maas confirmed when asked if the Alouettes are a different team with Alexander on the field. \u201cHe\u2019s a starter for a reason. We anointed him back in January to be the starter for a reason<\/a>; he proves it every time he\u2019s on that field. He gives us hope, he gives us belief, he gives us everything he has. The best thing about him, he competes as hard as anybody, and that\u2019s the expectation. He elevates people\u2019s play, bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montreal has posted a 3-7 record when Alexander has been sidelined in 2025. McLeod Bethel-Thompson won those three games while filling in for QB1 as the highest-paid backup passer in the league. Defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe\u2019s unit helped the Als win when MBT was the starter, and Alexander gave credit to that unit for its effort against Vernon Adams Jr. at Percival Molson Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re playing with a lead and you have the best defence in the league, it doesn\u2019t feel like I have to be out there playing super-hero ball,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n

Alexander plans to stay in Montreal during the team\u2019s bye week and continue treatment on his hamstring for the stretch run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: CFL As one CFL source summed it up, \u2018He\u2019s different.\u2019 That was in reference to Davis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-174052","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\/174052","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=174052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}