Rebuild can wait, says Als’ Reed
While many who follow the Alouettes — and those numbers will likely dwindle with each loss — want to see the team blown up, Kavis Reed isn’t prepared to make sweeping personnel changes. Not yet, at least.
“You cannot and should not concede. It’s not fair to our fan base,” the Als’ general manager and interim head coach said Tuesday after a walk-through practice that was devoid of media.
“We have to make certain we put the best team on the field. When the situation says it’s different, then we start to look at development.
“There won’t be radical changes. We feel we have a strong opportunity on Monday.”
The Als are preparing for a Thanksgiving afternoon home game against Edmonton. While Montreal (3-11) is in the throes of a seven-game losing streak, the Eskimos (7-6) have their own issues and have lost six straight. The blemish doesn’t look as conspicuous on them because they launched the Canadian Football League season with seven consecutive victories.
Nonetheless, an Ottawa win in British Columbia this weekend, combined with another Montreal loss, would eliminate the Als from the playoffs for a third successive season.
After one of the worst defeats in franchise history last Friday, a 59-11 demolition job in Calgary, Reed admitted it might not necessarily be what the Als are doing. Instead, it could be the players who are culpable. In other words, roster changes, with an eye toward next season, have started creeping into Reed’s mind — presuming he’s allowed to return in 2018.
“You really have to tear down and evaluate deeply the core of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” he said. “It’s dark right now. There’s no question about it. As dark as it is, all franchises, even those enjoying success now, had to go through that period of cultural shift.
“There’s a lot of impatience in Montreal because Montreal has been so used to success. But we know, internally, that we’re making the right decisions so those bright days will be long days.”
With Darian Durant still nursing a hamstring injury, it’s possible Drew Willy will start his second consecutive game, Reed said. Offensive tackle Jovan Olafioye will miss his second consecutive game. There could be a new defensive tackle inserted and new defensive back Tyler Williams might be activated. He’s 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds.
Receiver T.J. Graham is expected to get a second look despite dropping two certain touchdown passes and a snap deflecting off his leg for a turnover, simply because he might be the fastest receiver on the roster. And the Als, according to Reed, are expected to continue utilizing their up tempo, no huddle offence. He said the offence, despite its struggles, still functions better that way.
Meanwhile, with the CFL trade deadline a week from Wednesday, don’t be surprised if the Als make some moves, especially should the team be eliminated by next week. Reed said conversations have taken place with other GMs and he’s exploring trade opportunities that would “shore up things we need to shore up.”
That would be virtually everything.