Less than 24 hours after being completely shut down by the defence, the Montreal Alouettes offence bounced back in great fashion on the 18th day of the Mise-o-jeu training camp on Wednesday. It is a good sign a few days before the team’s home pre-season game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which will played Saturday at noon, at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
The intensity level was high towards the end of practice when both units were facing off. Quarteback Drew Willy completed back-to-back bombs to Eugene Lewis and Ernest Jackson. The defence looked ready to put up a fight when Chip Cox forced a fumble of receiver Marcel Caver, but that was before a heads up play by offensive lineman Sean Jamieson, who forced a fumble himself and ran forty yards with the ball, while teammate Luc Brodeur-Jourdain was running at his side.
During the last period of practice, the team simulated overtime and on both possessions, the offence scored a touchdown and made the two-point convert. On the first drive, Tyrell Sutton scored a major on a one-yard run, before Drew Willy connected with Eugene Lewis in the end zone for the convert. On the following possession, young quarterback Matt Shiltz sprinted 39 yards untouched all the way to the end zone. He then completed a pass to Richmond Nketiah in the end zone, adding two points to the board.
“You don’t want to see one side dominate all the time, so after the defence dominated yesterday, it was good to see the offence pick it up,” said Alouettes Head Coach Mike Sherman.
Defensive back Jermaine Robinson had his theory to explain why Khari Jones‘ unit had a great day on the field. “Our offence is very talented. We have guys like B.J. Cunningham, Eugene Lewis and Ernest Jackson who are amongst the best in the league. At running back, Tyrell Sutton showed all of his talent last season. They had the upper hand today and hats off to them. You can feel that the quarterbacks understand the plays and that chemistry is starting to develop in their group.”
Pat Donovan joins the Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes announced on Wednesday that Patrick Donovan was appointed as the club’s Director of Football Operations. He most recently was the head coach of the Concordia University Stingers‘ football team. Donovan was previously the Stingers‘ defensive coordinator and assistant head coach since 2014. His previous experience includes five seasons with the McGill University Redmen as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting coordinator. The Laconia, NH native played five seasons with the Stingers, capping his career with back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy honours as the most outstanding defensive player in Canadian university football (2005 and 2006). The two-time all-Canadian linebacker was also Quebec’s 2007 nominee for the outstanding male university athlete in Canada. Donovan will join his brother Mickey who was added to the Alouettes‘ coaching staff as Special Teams Coordinator in January 2018.
Transactions
The Alouettes released national running back Chucks Okafor
Upcoming schedule
The following is the Alouettes schedule for the next few days. For a full schedule, click HERE.
Thursday, June 7
11:00 a.m. – Practice on the field located between Olympic Stadium and Saputo Stadium.
