(Montreal) It only took one loss for Jason Maas to show signs of impatience.
The Montreal Alouettes head coach seems particularly irritated by the lack of offensive cohesion, which has resulted in his offensive unit scoring just four touchdowns in three games and giving up 15 sacks.
“I know very well how many sacks we gave out,” he snapped at the reporter bringing up the subject after Wednesday’s practice. It’s the same as the ground game: communication, communication, communication! We need to communicate better, whether it’s coaches to players or players to each other. We need to better understand what we are doing on the ground.
Maas also seemed to have had enough of some concerns that Cody Fajardo would be caught behind his line of scrimmage so often.
“It’s professional football: they’re going to get hit and they have to take it,” he said of quarterbacks in general. Should we do a better job of protecting Cody? Yes, that’s what we’ve been talking about from the start. But we can’t spend our time worrying about him. We have to protect him as best we can. We have to improve; we never want him to be hit. What can we do ? We do everything that needs to be done. Now it remains to be done in matches. »
Fajardo, who had 77 sacks in 2022, the most in the CFL, took it all with a grain of salt.
“I’m not concerned about that at all. I was the one that was joined the most last year, it prepared me for that. In the end, we are 2-1 and that’s all that matters. […] I will continue to do my stuff and we have a very good team. »
The lack of communication on offense, particularly on the ground game, was the common thread of this training. All the coaches we met near the synthetic turf between Olympic Stadium and Saputo Stadium pointed this out.
“It takes all the linemen, the running back and everyone else on the same page for the ground game to work,” Maas explained. It’s a matter of offensive unity and everyone has to contribute.
“In football, all it takes is one guy who doesn’t read or understand the game properly for everything to fail,” Maas continued. It’s not all negative: of the 49 games we made, 38 were very good. But in the plays we did poorly, the worst were the ones that led to turnovers in the opponent’s pay zone. In a 17-3 game, if you score any way, the tide can quickly turn. »
“I wouldn’t say (the running game) is difficult, but there’s a miscommunication right now,” running backs coach Tyrell Sutton said. When we get this sorted, everything will be fine. […] I think the communication was not as good for this third game. »
Same story on the side of Anthony Calvillo, the offensive coordinator.
“The first thing we did this week was Kristian Matte doing this intervention, was everyone look in the mirror to see how we can improve this team. As offensive coaches, we have to do the same to see how we can help our players. If there is a blitz that we missed, let’s make sure we see it all week to counter it in a game situation. »
We also witnessed a game of musical chairs at certain positions on Wednesday.
The Alouettes’ offensive line was able to count on the return to play of left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage. The veteran had missed the lost game at the hands of the Bombers, during which his replacement, Philippe Gagnon, fell in action.
We don’t know much more about the nature of Gagnon’s injury, but he now has a cast on his left arm. So it wouldn’t be surprising if his name were added to the six-week disabled list later this week.
Defensive backs Ciante Evans and Dionté Ruffin, whose names are on the injured list for one game, practiced on the sidelines without ever donning their helmets. Linebacker Avery Williams has been training with his teammates, however, which is rare good injury news these days.
On offense, running back William Stanback was unable to complete practice. At first it was believed to be heat stroke, but it appears to be a virus that hit Stanback.
“He’s a little sick, no big deal,” Sutton said in very good French.
Keshunn Abram’s six-game disabled list last week also forced the Alouettes to try a few different combinations.
In addition to Jake Harty, who appeared in the game against the Bombers, Tyler Snead, Cole Spieker and James Letcher of the practice roster were brought in. Ditto for kick return specialist Chandler Worthy, used in a few formations.
