The Montreal Alouettes will be without starting quarterback Davis Alexander for at least a week after he re-aggravated his hamstring during Thursday’s victory over the Toronto Argonauts.
Alexander was not able to participate in practice on Sunday, and head coach Jason Maas made his status abundantly clear.
“Davis is out. We don’t know (how long), but he’ll be out for this week, and I’m not going to keep answering it every week. When you don’t see him out here, he ain’t playing. So I’ll tell you when he is, how’s that?” Maas told reporters after practice.
“You can keep asking me, I’m just going to keep telling you it’s week to week.”
Alexander, who was making his return after missing the previous two games with the injury, ran in the winning touchdown with 1:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, but was seen gripping the back of his leg at the end of the 10-yard scamper. He remained in the game for a failed two-point attempt, before falling to the ground and being attended to by trainers. He did not return for the final drive and was formally placed on the six-game injured list on Sunday.
The 26-year-old has been battling a nagging hamstring injury since training camp and was forced to miss time after he pulled up lame in a Week 3 win over Edmonton. After taking three weeks to recover, he threw for 303 yards, one touchdown, and one interception against Toronto, while running three times for 23 yards and the winner. With the victory, he tied Danny McManus for the best start to a career for a CFL quarterback with eight straight wins as a starter.
The Alouettes remain undefeated while their franchise quarterback is at the helm, with Alexander amassing 1,106 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions across four starts. They have yet to win a game without Alexander in the lineup, as backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson has thrown for 472 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions while leading the team to a pair of losses.
Despite concerns that the veteran signal-caller has underperformed in relief, Maas indicated that he will give Bethel-Thompson time to re-establish himself with the benefit of more reps in the offence.
“(The plan) is exactly what it was a couple of weeks ago. Bethel will start, and then we’ll go from there. We’ve got two other guys that are capable of going in and playing at any time,” Maas said, referencing third-stringer Caleb Evans and youngster James Morgan.
“We evaluate quarterbacks daily, and it’s basically the same thing during a game. If you don’t feel he’s into the game, or things aren’t going well and you want a different look to the defence, then you might make a change here and there. But I’ve always been more of a proponent of letting a guy work through things, because a lot of times when everybody else sees it, it’s always the quarterback that gets the blame, but it’s not always the quarterback to blame.”
In addition to Alexander’s absence, Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot also didn’t practice after being a late scratch against the Argos and has been ruled out for this week. Returner James Letcher Jr. did not take part after suffering a broken hand, but Maas indicated that he will be reevaluated and could still play.
The Montreal Alouettes (4-2) will return to action on Thursday, July 24 when they visit the Calgary Stampeders (5-1) at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT.
