As pro football debuts go, Davis Alexander admitted, his was a doozy.
But as the Alouettes quarterback prepares for what should be his first CFL start Friday night in Hamilton, he says he has only scratched the surface of his talent.
“I’ve only played a half of football. I have a lot more to show,” Alexander said earlier this week after practice at Stade Hébert in St-Léonard. “Honestly, it couldn’t have gone much better. It was just very rewarding and humbling at the same time.”
Alexander replaced Caleb Evans to start the second half of last Thursday’s game against Saskatchewan. Alexander completed his opening 12 passes for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Reggie White Jr. The Als erased a 16-3 deficit and rallied for a 20-16 victory, improving their record to a league-best 6-1.
Both played last week because veteran starter Cody Fajardo suffered a hamstring injury July 11 against Toronto. While Fajardo originally was placed on the six-game injured list, he was removed from that this week and returned to practice on Tuesday. Fajardo might be in uniform against the Tiger-Cats, but isn’t expected to play. The same two teams meet again on Aug. 10 at Molson Stadium, when his return would make more sense.
Montreal head coach Jason Maas won’t name his starter until he’s required but found little wrong with Alexander’s play during his first legitimate test. Now in his third season, Alexander, 25, has been limited to exhibition games or late-season matches that didn’t affect the final standings. But every time he has been on the field, Alexander has made plays.
At 6-feet and 200 pounds, he’s perfectly suited to take advantage of the wider field while utilizing his mobility. Alexander also has a quick release on his passes while putting velocity on his throws. He finished with 15 completions in 18 attempts for 178 yards against the Roughriders.
Maas said he has been impressed with the way Alexander prepares and competes.
“He improves, it seems, every single day,” Maas said. “He works at it, is committed and is the ultimate competitor. Watching him on the field, he’s very calm and composed. We all know the ability he shows in practice, the effort he gives on and off the field; the mental toughness to stick with it this long without a real opportunity.
“That’s what I was really proud of. To see a big moment come and him deliver. That speaks volumes about his preparation, what he’s been doing when the lights aren’t always on.”
Alexander was the antithesis of Evans against Saskatchewan, and he raised his teammates’ level of play and confidence almost immediately. Montreal rode that wave to a win when the team appeared to be in a quagmire, offensively and defensively. Alexander connected with Tyson Philpot for a 30-yard gain on his second pass. He found Philpot for gains of 24 and 12 yards on the next possession, capped by a 31-yard touchdown to White.
And in the fourth quarter, while the Als failed to score a touchdown, Alexander engineered a drive to took 6:47 off the clock, capped by a Jose Maltos field goal with 4:21 remaining.
“I got the ball out fast and on time,” Alexander said. “I got the ball to our playmakers and was able to show a little bit of what I can do. It was kind of like sandlot football if a play broke down. I can make a play and get our guys the ball fast. My job’s to get the playmakers the ball in space. They’ll take care of business.”
While Evans passed for only 91 yards and the Als were limited to five first downs and 74 yards of net offence Maas, himself a former CFL quarterback, said Evans wasn’t solely responsible for Montreal’s plight.
“Obviously the starting quarterback gets a lot of credit and blame,” Maas said. “Not every play that didn’t work in that game was due to his fault. Are there things Caleb could have done better? Absolutely. There’s room for improvement. To say the whole first half was on Caleb isn’t right.
“But that spark needed to be made and we did it. Davis went in and obviously graded out pretty damn well. He provided that and then some.”
While Fajardo didn’t throw a pass during Wednesday’s practice, he denied there was a correlation between his injury and Montreal playing its second game in five days.
“This is the first hamstring of my career,” Fajardo told The Gazette. “I’ve had plenty of short weeks. Football’s a funny game. You can take some gruesome hits and be just fine. Other times, it’s the littlest things that can cause the most harm. It was just an unfortunate event for me.”