MONTREAL — After a three-point outing last week, Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas emphasized one area the team’s offence needs to improve on heading into Sunday’s game visiting the B.C. Lions.
"Communication, communication, communication. We need to be better at communicating,” said Maas of both the run game and pass protection on Wednesday. “That's coaches to players, players to players on the field.
“We just need to be better at understanding what we're doing out there."
Montreal rushed for just 93 yards on 16 carries in Saturday’s 17-3 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — a game many considered its first real test of the season after wins against Ottawa and Hamilton, who have one victory between them to start the year.
Starting running back William Stanback, who left practice early on Wednesday with a stomach problem, came into the season motivated to return to his dominant self after last year’s ankle injury. Through three games, he has 153 rushing yards on 33 attempts.
Maas believes that by practising, and sorting out their communication on offence, those rushing yards will come for the Alouettes.
"It takes five O-linemen and the running back and everybody else to do their jobs on every single run play. That's the bottom line,” he said. “We just got to keep working at it, keep giving carries to our backs and our backs will start producing more yards. That's what we believe."
As for the pass protection, Alouettes starting quarterback Cody Fajardo is having some déjà vu with 15 sacks against him already this season.
Fajardo’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who went 6-12 last season, gave up a league-high 77 sacks, with Maas serving as offensive coordinator.
The 31-year-old Fajardo feels a little different about it this year, because the Alouettes are winning some games.
“The hits feel a little bit different when you win football games," said Fajardo after Montreal's first practice of the week, a two-and-a-half hour session in sweltering, 32 C heat at the Montreal Olympic Park.
"I was the most sacked quarterback last year, and I feel like that prepared me. But honestly, we're 2-1 and the sacks is just something people like to talk about statistically.
"It hasn't crossed my mind once about being paranoid or panicked at all."
Maas made clear he knows how many times Fajardo has been sacked and says the Alouettes are taking the steps to address that ahead of Sunday’s meeting against the Lions, who are 3-1 and boast a league-best defence with 66 points against this season.
Montreal’s goal isn’t just to reduce the sacks, Maas doesn’t want opponents anywhere near their quarterback.
"We don't want to get our quarterback hit ever,” said Maas. “Five sacks, one hit, four hits, they're all hits. … You can have one hit and get knocked on your shoulder and be out of the game.
"What can we do about it? We're doing the things that we need to do about it. And then the proof will be in the pudding when we play."
Both Maas and Fajardo pointed to Montreal's failure to capitalize in the red zone to explain why the offence struggled last week, rather than the game as a whole.
Fajardo went 17 for 27 for 270 yards, but threw a red-zone interception. Montreal also fumbled the ball in Winnipeg's half on another occasion and missed a field goal amid poor weather.
But it's those missed plays that can make the difference between a win and a loss.
"Out of the 49 plays we had there'd be 38 that were pretty damn good," said Maas. "The 11 aren't good enough and the 11 can keep you from winning ball games."
On the other side of the ball, the Alouettes had trouble defending the rush last week.
Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira established the run game with 120 yards on 20 carries, helping set up the pass for Blue Bombers QB Zach Collaros.
Alouettes linebacker Tyrice Beverette doesn’t think Montreal's defence was playing like its usual self. When it does, he believes it’s the best in the league.
"Being more aggressive on the runs, that's our focus,” he said of Sunday’s matchup. “Usually we stop the running, for somebody to think they're gonna do that us, we got to set the tone very early in the beginning game and let them know that that's not what we're going for."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2023.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
