{"id":455789,"date":"2026-02-05T16:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/455789\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T16:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:21:09","slug":"davis-alexander-confident-austin-mack-will-light-it-up-with-cody-fajardo-in-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/455789\/","title":{"rendered":"Davis Alexander confident Austin Mack will ‘light it up’ with Cody Fajardo in Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Bob Butrym\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Montreal Alouettes franchise quarterback Davis Alexander is wishing Austin Mack the best following his release from the team, which saw the veteran receiver join former Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo with the Edmonton Elks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Mack)\u2019s done so much for this organization. He came in in 2023, I think he started fourth on the depth chart and he just kind of put the whole league on notice. Obviously, he was super clutch in the playoffs, super clutch in the Grey Cup, but we\u2019ve been around the game long enough \u2014 it is a business. I\u2019m super happy for him that he was able to reconnect with Cody, I\u2019m sure Cody\u2019s fired up about that,\u201d Alexander told the media in Montreal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got released and he found his next-best spot \u2014 or maybe he felt his best spot \u2014 super quick, so I\u2019m happy for him and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to light it up there with Cody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mack was released late last month ahead of a $45,000 offseason roster bonus, which was due on February 1. The move came following an injury-plagued season, which saw the 28-year-old dress for 12 regular-season games and make 48 catches for 674 yards and two touchdowns. He made two grabs for 21 yards in the East Final but was held off the stat sheet in the Grey Cup as the Alouettes fell to Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

Alexander understood his team\u2019s decision to release Mack, though he clearly still holds the receiver in high esteem. Nothing is guaranteed in professional football and the emerging quarterback is excited to see which of Montreal\u2019s receivers is able to step up in 2026 with Mack no longer on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough because players want stability and some people want to be in a spot for a long time, especially if you have a family and stuff like that. I\u2019m signed through 2028 now, but at the end of the day, I know that that\u2019s not guaranteed. I\u2019m not saying (the release) was performance-based on Mack, that\u2019s an upstairs decision \u2014 a money thing would be my guess, that\u2019s what it always is \u2014 but if I don\u2019t perform, I know this contract could be swept under me just as well,\u201d said Alexander.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is, but we have a lot of pieces, a lot of great receivers coming back, and they seem to be pretty high on some rookies that are coming in as well. You look at a guy like Cole Spieker, he could absolutely thrive off this opportunity, and I think he\u2019s going to thrive off this opportunity. That\u2019s not to take anything away from Mack, but we\u2019ve got to keep pushing, we\u2019ve got to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Alouettes ranked seventh in passing in 2025, though that was due in part to Alexander missing 10 regular-season games with a hamstring injury. Tyler Snead led the team with 84 catches for 1,129 yards and four touchdowns and was rewarded with a contract extension through 2027<\/a>. Tyson Philpot, who missed six games due to injury, received a massive contract extension after snagging 61 passes for 804 yards and five scores<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for Mack, he\u2019s now been reunited with Fajardo, who served as his quarterback in Montreal during a storybook season in 2023. Mack made 78 catches for 1,154 yards and four touchdowns as a CFL rookie that year, helping the Alouettes end a 12-year championship drought with an upset win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Hamilton.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if Mack and Fajardo will be able to rekindle that success in Edmonton, but one thing\u2019s for sure \u2014 Alexander is confident they will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Bob Butrym\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Montreal Alouettes franchise quarterback Davis Alexander is wishing Austin Mack the best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,50470,3179,50478,49,48,521,522,520,14973,50475,23752,13264,77213,52282,2338,112469,82],"class_list":["post-455789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-alouettes","tag-als","tag-austin-mack","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-cody-fajardo","tag-davis-alexander","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-elks","tag-elks","tag-mack","tag-montreal","tag-receiver","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455789","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=455789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}