Alouettes focus on ball protection after bitter end to 2024 season

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ST-JÉRÔME — Is redemption a greater motivator than repeating? That question may well define the Alouettes’ 2025 season.

“It’s a great question and I think, in a sense, it is naturally,” safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy said on Thursday, after the team’s training camp practices at Complexe Sportif Claude-Beaulieu. “One of the problems from winning the year before is becoming complacent. But one of the things we didn’t do is get complacent, because we know how long this organization was craving a win — and one wasn’t enough.”

The Als won the Grey Cup in 2023 — their first CFL championship since 2010 — by going into Toronto and defeating the Argonauts in the East Division final before upsetting favoured Winnipeg in the title game. That victory guaranteed the Als would go from being the hunter to the hunted last season.

And while Montreal was 12-5-1 during the regular season in 2024, it faltered down the stretch, winning only two and tying one of its final seven games. The Als were unable to stem the tide in the division final at Molson Stadium, again against the Argos, losing 30-28.

The Als committed five turnovers in the game — six if a two-point convert try that was intercepted in the end zone is included. Tailback Walter Fletcher committed one of the four fumbles and had a pass deflect off his hands for an interception.

That Toronto went on to defeat the Blue Bombers the next week in the Grey Cup only added to Montreal’s sting, knowing how close it came to potentially repeating.

“For sure, that sour taste in your mouth — the thing you actually did to them the year before and they did it to you — is a great motivator,” Dequoy said.

The mentality around the team hasn’t changed this season. Fiery head coach Jason Maas, considered an excellent motivator, will never allow his players to relax. As much as the Als believe they were prepared to defeat Toronto in the East final, they simply didn’t execute.

If the Als have a rallying cry this season, it will be “chin-it.” Pull the ball up to your chin so it can’t be punched out — and protect it at all costs.

“You can be perfect all season long but, if you create turnovers, you ain’t going to win,” Dequoy said. “We have put so much emphasis on the chin-it now. Protecting the ball is the issue of why we lost and we’re going to make sure it’s not going to be the same.”

The Als tried valiantly to come back against Toronto, outscoring the Argos 12-3 in the fourth quarter. Fletcher caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo with 1:56 left, bringing Montreal to within two points. But the Als failed on a two-point convert try.

Receiver Cole Spieker, who caught five passes for 65 yards, noted how frustrated he was, knowing the plays were there to be made. “It seemed like every bounce was going against us,” he said.

“To have that many fumbles, that many turnovers and we still only lost by two after missing a couple of two-point conversions. On offence, that’s what we’ve been thinking about all off-season. Once you feel that taste of a loss, it motivates you even more because you don’t want to feel that again. Sometimes it’s harder to feel like that after a win because you figure, what’s next? This has been burning deep in our gut. That’s what we’ve been thinking about all off-season. We’re ready to get some revenge. We’re not taking it for granted.”

Linebacker Tyrice Beverette, the division nominee as outstanding defensive player last season, said it took him until the start of camp last Sunday to move on from the defeat.

“The way we lost that game, it left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said. “We know that we didn’t play our best and we could have controlled that outcome. Giving them the ball that many times and losing only by two, it left a bitter taste. Our motto is finish and protect that ball. It’s the thing between winning and losing. We know how important that ball is. It’s going to feed a family, win games and it can win championships.”

Fletcher left practice early on Thursday and was seen with an ice pack on his knee, but Maas said the injury isn’t serious. However, the knee injury that defensive-tackle Mustafa Johnson suffered late last season and knocked him out of the playoffs, still hasn’t healed. He might begin the season on the six-game injured list.