June 22, 2016

Bowman is confident for the 2016 season

The Alouettes are applying the finishing touches in advance of this Friday’s regular season opener against the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field (8:30 p.m. kick-off on RDS, TSN, 95.5 and CJAD). For John Bowman, it will be the start of his eleventh season with the Als.

According to Bowman, training camp went very well for the team. “There was a lot of competition in camp. The rookies were in full-flight and showed what they could do on the field. And even with all the competition taking place, the players were able to bond with one another. So, we had a good training camp and we’re hoping that translates into a lot of victories this season,” said the defensive end.

During the final pre-season game against Toronto, Bowman came close to recording his first quarterback sack of the year. “I tripped-up, so I wasn’t able to make the sack. I need to work on my footwork because of that mistake. Regarding quarterback sacks, I’ve missed making a lot throughout my career. If I had got them all, I think I would have had at least 200 by now (laughs). The important thing is to always give it your all on the field… and to get to the quarterback as quickly as possible! If the defensive line does its job like it did last week, when we had eight sacks, we will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season,” Bowman said.

“If the defensive line does its job like it did last week, when we had eight sacks, we will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season,”

The Alouettes’ defensive end believes that above all else football is a team sport and it is crucial to help your teammates. “As well, the defensive line puts it upon its shoulders to make not only the defence but the entire team better,” said Bowman, who had the best year of his career last season with 19 quarterback sacks.

When asked about the Alouettes’ defensive line for 2016, Bowman only had good things to say. “We have two of the league’s best players for the past two seasons on our defensive line. We have Alan-Michael Cash, who could be the most underrated player in the league, Gabriel Knapton, who has been very consistent for the past two years and Aaron Lavarias, who is an excellent replacement at defensive end,” said the veteran.

“We have two of the league’s best players for the past two seasons on our defensive line.”

The preparation routine for regular season games is quickly returning for the players. “Everything is going very well. However, a lot of our rookies got lost within Olympic Stadium! (laughs) We began a normal week of preparation to get ready for Friday’s game against Winnipeg. It’s great to be finally getting ready for the first regular season game of the year,” Bowman said.

The first regular season game for the Montreal Alouettes is this Friday, June 24, when the team will be in Winnipeg to take on the Blue Bombers at 8:30 p.m. The Alouettes’ regular season home opener takes place Thursday, June 30 at 7:00 p.m. against the Ottawa RedBlacks.

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For the game against Ottawa, please take note of the security measures at the stadium, as well as being mindful of traffic congestion. We strongly suggest that fans arrive 90 minutes before the start of the game in order to avoid lengthy lineups. The recommended method of transport to McGill’s stadium is the free shuttle buses offered by the STM (Metro Square Victoria-OACI and McGill). Please take note Docteur Penfield avenue will be closed to westbound traffic between Peel and Pine for an undetermined period of time. 3 days before each home game, you can check details on weather and traffic, see exclusive videos, and even book a photo with a cheerleader on the web at AlsGameDay.com presented by Telus.