The story of this year’s Grey Cup for the Montreal Alouettes is the health of franchise quarterback Davis Alexander. While there will be general doubt around his hamstring from start to finish, for receiver Tyson Philpot, there is none.
“No question for me, he’s going to play 60 minutes,” he told 3DownNation on Thursday. “If you’d been here today, I think this was the best practice Davis has had all year. His confidence exudes any kind of disbelief people have in him. He would tape his leg if it would come to it.”
The Canadian receiver, who caught 61 passes for 804 yards and five touchdowns this season, is in disbelief at the pain Alexander can tolerate. He is well-placed to watch him on a day-to-day basis, as he undergoes repeated treatments to address the injury that has nagged him since April.
“He looks great. I always ask him, because I’m his roommate, ‘How are you doing? You’re not even limping. Are you actually hurt?’ He’s getting the treatment that he needs; he’ll be ready.”
The five-foot-eleven receiver can feel the same energy the team had two years ago when they won the Grey Cup. Philpot believes Alexander can reproduce the magic on the field and spoke highly of his leadership. He doesn’t like how his quarterback is perceived in the media.
“He’s just a great dude; he leads by example. Everyone wants to be around him because of his mentality. Everyone wants to die on this field for him,” he said. “I hate that he gets all the hate in the media and stuff because of his confidence. They confuse his confidence with cockiness. Because he backs up everything he says, people think he’s cocky, but he’s just confident.”
Philpot is also confident in his play for Sunday’s matchup. He feels better than during his first stint in the big game, where he was named Most Outstanding Canadian after catching the winner. He also wants to show his big game against the Roughriders earlier this season – nine catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns – wasn’t a fluke.
“Obviously, they’ve got two all-star corners coming back who weren’t there in that game. I’m just super excited for that challenge,” he said. “All I’ve heard is ‘Chuck that game out, it happened against the backups’, so I’m excited to go for the challenge of going against the real guys.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.
This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20, and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
