“I’m confident we can get him out of our system and move on,” general manager and interim coach Danny Maciocia said before the game against the Redblacks.
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OTTAWA — When the Alouettes returned to practice this week after a crushing loss that some teams find difficult to overcome, Danny Maciocia paid close attention to his players’ body language.
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“I wanted to see if they were slow, down, or hanging their heads. That was not the case,” Maciocia, the Als general manager and interim head coach, said Wednesday. “We didn’t experience any of that. That’s why I’m confident we can remove it from our system and move on.”
Fresh off an agonizing 32-31 loss at home to Edmonton last week, with Montreal blowing a 19-point third-quarter lead, the Als take on the winless Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night at TD Place. (7pm, TSN1, TSN3, TSN5, RDS, TSN Radio-690).
The Redblacks are 0-5 and 3-16 overall in two seasons under head coach Paul LaPolice. Additionally, Ottawa has just eight offensive touchdowns this season and is averaging 19.2 points on offense.
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The 1-4 Als have problems of their own, having fired head coach Khari Jones and defensive coordinator Barron Miles. Three of Montreal’s losses have been by a combined five points.
Now that he’s back on the bench, however, even Maciocia is curious to see the level of mettle in the team he put together.
“You could feel miserable, irritated or take it out on a teammate,” he said. “That is not who we are. I think we are a better team, made up of veterans who have seen their part in this league. I think we have a great locker room. There is no shortage of character and pride in that room.”
Montreal’s next two games are against division opponents, albeit away from home, where the team hasn’t won in three. And since it’s becoming abundantly clear that only two Eastern Division teams will make the playoffs, the Als need to start winning to salvage their season. It’s that easy.
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“I think all the guys are marked,” Maciocia said.
The game marks a homecoming for defensive end Avery Ellis, one of the Als’ biggest free-agent signings last winter. Ellis spent four seasons with the Redblacks, producing 18 quarterback sacks in 57 games, and was a player Maciocia targeted when he hit the open market. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound player signed a two-year contract with Montreal and earns an estimated base salary of $110,000 this season.
“There’s a bit of a memory, honestly, when I walk into this ballpark,” Ellis said. “But when the time came, I wanted to try free agency. It seemed like the team had great chemistry. I always loved Montreal as a city. I felt that Montreal was a perfect fit.”
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When Ellis signed, he told the Montreal Gazette that the Als had struck gold. Through five games, he has been one of Montreal’s most productive players, with two sacks and nine tackles.
“The promise isn’t over and I still feel that way,” said Ellis, 27, of Newark, NJ. “I feel like we have a great space, defense and team. Me being a part of that, I’m just a little gold dust.”
Linebacker Adarius Pickett returns from injury, while the Als have decided to start Micah Awe at middle linebacker, moving first overall pick Tyrell Richards to the outside. Richards started in the middle against Edmonton. Caleb Evans is still Ottawa’s starting quarterback, but Nick Arbuckle, recently acquired from the Elks, is hoping to play. Former Als linebacker Patrick Levels is also returning from a knee injury.
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