Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander wasn’t happy about when he was taken off the field by the CFL’s injury spotter just prior to halftime of his team’s Thanksgiving Day win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“I was pissed that they took me off the field,” Alexander told the media postgame. “You can’t pull me off the field after I just threw three plays, and then pull me. It doesn’t make any sense. … Pull me right away, don’t pull me after three plays.”
Alexander stayed in the game on second-and-one with a little over one minute left in the first half to run short yardage. He got a first down off the left side on his initial surge and remained on his feet without the whistle being blown, allowing him to reach the second level of Ottawa’s defence.
The 26-year-old kept his legs churning before being wrapped up by defensive back Adrian Frye. Alexander’s helmet appeared to get jarred loose in the early stages of being tackled, which is when defensive back Deandre Lamont sprinted forward from his safety spot and delivered a shot to Alexander’s head, causing the helmet to fly off. Though a flag was initially thrown, Lamont was not assessed a penalty.
“I don’t know that it should have been (a penalty). I’ll have to look at the play,” said head coach Jason Maas. “You become a running back in those situations and I’ll have to look to see. If it’s not spearing — if it’s just hitting a guy — that’s part of football.”
Alexander appeared shaken up but remained in the game for two more plays before being taken off by the CFL’s concussion spotter. After the game, the quarterback indicated that he cleared concussion protocol before halftime, then had the “big gash” to his nose stitched up during the break, which allowed him to return for the second half.
Maas, who called it an “unfortunate play,” indicated that “not too many injuries” happen to quarterbacks on short yardage plays. Despite the big hit to Alexander, he indicated the team won’t change its process moving forward, citing the need to remain efficient with time winding down in the half.
Alexander finished the game completing 23-of-30 pass attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown, along with one carry for six yards. He told the media it was “probably the worst game” of his career, which was a pretty remarkable assessment considering he didn’t commit any turnovers and his team won by 20 points.
Maas didn’t think it was a perfect outing from his franchise quarterback, though he was complimentary of Alexander’s competitive drive and desire to get better.
“Is there room for improvement for Davis? Absolutely. There’s plenty of things out there that I thought he could have done a bit better. I still just love his fight, I love his leadership. I love the fact that he wants to be perfect on every single play,” said Maas.
“He was far from that in this game but he still led us and he was still able to make throws and make good reads, just probably not as consistent as he would like to be.”
The Montreal Alouettes (9-7) will visit the Ottawa Redblacks (4-12) at TD Place Stadium on Saturday, October 18 with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met on Thanksgiving with the Alouettes winning 30-10 to keep their hopes of finishing first in the East Division alive.
The weather forecast in Ottawa calls for a high of 14 degrees with a 40 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, RDS, and CTV in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 in Montreal and TSN 1200 in Ottawa.
