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Article July 27, 2022

Preview: Alouettes travel to Hamilton to take on Ticats on Thursday night

MATTE, KRISTIAN #51 of the Montreal Alouettes, JAMIESON, SEAN #64 of the Montreal Alouettes GAGNON, PHILIPPE #53 of the Montreal Alouettes

This will be the first of three matchups between the Alouettes and Tiger-Cats this season. They’ll be going head-to-head twice in less than a month, as Hamilton will be traveling to Montreal for a rematch on Aug. 20th.

The Ticats head into this game with a 1-5 record. Their only win of the 2022 campaign came against Ottawa in Hamilton two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Als just collected their first road win of the season last Thursday night against the Redblacks.

Sean Jamieson is coming back:

Earlier this week, the Alouettes announced that starting centre Sean Jamieson had been activated from the six-game injured list. The veteran suffered a knee injury against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 23rd, and he hasn’t played since.

He was expected to miss anywhere between six and eight weeks of action, but he’s going to end up coming back way ahead of that timeline. In the end, he missed three games in four weeks.

“I’m feeling good,” Jamieson said on Tuesday. “The MRI came back with the best results it could’ve been for what happened. The knee is feeling good. It’s been four weeks since (the injury) happened, and I’m ready to go.

“As far as my knee, I’m not worried. I’m going out to play football. If the defence comes up with something we’ve never seen before, that might worry me. Other than that, I’m not too worried about my knees or my health or anything like that.”

Jake Wieneke more involved:

Through the first two games of the season, Jake Wieneke had just two receptions on six targets for 37 yards. The 27-year-old was sidelined for most of training camp with an injury, but he doesn’t feel like that hindered him early on in 2022.

Wieneke missed the June 23rd game against the Riders, but he’s been very productive since then.

On July 2nd, he had four receptions for 67 yards in Regina and he made five grabs for 48 yards in last Thursday’s win over the Ottawa Redblacks.

“It’s good to get back out here and it’s good to get into a rhythm,” Wieneke said after Monday’s practice. “I feel like stacking days together, whether it’s practice or a game just continue to improve and get better every single day.

“Obviously, our job is to make plays every time the ball comes to us. If it comes in the red zone or if it comes in the middle of the field, wherever it happens, I’m going to be happy with it. I just have to do my job and continue to build trust with the quarterbacks and the coaches and make plays when they come my way.”

Tyrice Beverette vs. his old team:

Linebacker Tyrice Beverette has been a terror on special teams in his first year with the Alouettes and he’s also made some contributions on defence. He should get even more snaps on the defensive side of the ball this week, as rookie Tyrell Richards was placed on the six-game injured list with a knee injury.

This will be the first time that the 27-year-old gets to play his former team, as Beverette spent the 2019 and 2021 seasons with Hamilton.

“Of course, it’s going to be a fun one,” Beverette said on Monday. “I spent a few years (in Hamilton), I know a few of the guys there. It’s going to be a friendly competition. I definitely want to get after those guys and come on top with my guys.

“I’m just ready to work every day. Whatever they ask of me, that’s what I try to do at the best of my ability. It’s a small roster so you have to be ready at any position over here. I just appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given, and I just want to keep on playing hard and playing with my teammates.”

The Ticats:

The Tiger-Cats are coming off a tight loss in BC last week but winning in Hamilton is never easy.

There will be some familiar faces with the Ticats. Matthew Shiltz, who left the Als in free agency last winter, has served as Dane Evans’ backup quarterback this year. He’s also seen quite a bit of action on offence so far this season.

Also, former Als head coach Khari Jones is now serving as a football operations consultant with the Ticats.

“The offence has changed quite a bit,” Maciocia said when asked if he was worried about Jones helping the Ticats gameplan for the Als. “We have a little more motion than we did in the past. We also spread the ball around quite a bit more than we did before, too. The fact that we were able to get the ball to (Hergy) Mayala more last week is an example of that. It’s not something that worries us too much. I think we’re comfortable with our offence, our concepts, and the system that we’ll use on Thursday.”

On the injury front, the Ticats activated linebacker Simoni Lawrence and receiver Lemar Durant from the six-game injured list earlier this week.