Cunningham bright spot amid bleak CFL season
Forty yards. That’s all it will take. B.J. Cunningham’s certain he has 40 yards and more in him.
The Alouettes receiver needs 40 yards Friday against Saskatchewan to reach 1,000 on the season. While that figure remains magical in pro football, it has lost some of its lustre over the years, especially since the Canadian Football League adopted an 18-game regular season more than 30 years ago.
Nonetheless, milestones have been few and far between this season with Montreal at 3-13 and on a nine-game losing streak. Linebacker Kyries Hebert reached 100 tackles Sunday and Cunningham will likely be the only offensive player to hit 1,000 yards in 2017 — especially with general manager and interim head coach Kavis Reed committed to playing as many rookies as possible in their final game Nov. 3 against the Tiger-Cats.
“I talked to a few guys around the league, veteran guys. They told me to keep playing ball. Do what you do,” Cunningham said. “They said it doesn’t matter if it’s 1,900 or 1,001. Just get it. It’s your first one.”
Cunningham, in his third season with the Als, enters the game against the Roughriders leading the team. He has caught 60 passes for 960 yards, while scoring four touchdowns. Cunningham’s averaging 16 yards per catch and has produced three 100-yard games.
The former Michigan State product joined the Als in 2015 following NFL stints with Miami, Philadelphia and Chicago. And as this organization continues its rebuilding process over what figures to be an active winter, Cunningham is one of the few offensive pieces this team can structure its future around.
The 6-foot-2, 211-pounder is 28, under contract in 2018 and said he definitely wants to return.
“I want to be part of the group that turns this program around. I feel like that’s going to happen,” he said. “If we finish the season off right and do what we’re supposed to do, we’re going to be good.
“We’re not having the season we wanted, but this is one bright side ... having a 1,000-yard receiver. That’s all I’m trying to do. All the adversity we went through this year, remember it for next year when we come out on top. All this stuff we’re going through right now, it’s just going to be a foundation for better to come.”
Meanwhile, it seems virtually certain kicker Boris Bede, who’s experiencing some soreness in his hip, won’t be available this week. One potential replacement is Taylor Russolino, a California native who graduated from Millsaps College in 2011 and still trains with kicking coach Michael Husted.
The Als are trying to avoid a franchise-record 10th consecutive defeat, having lost nine straight in both 1981 and 1967. While there’s no doubt the team was struggling under former head coach Jacques Chapdelaine, things haven’t improved under Reed’s watch.