Bethel-Thompson under pressure as Alouettes host Elks in Fajardo's return

National Post

a day ago

MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes acquired McLeod Bethel-Thompson from the Edmonton Elks in exchange for Cody Fajardo as an insurance policy in case Davis Alexander got injured.
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One could say the Alouettes have paid the premiums, but so far haven't been able to collect on their claims.
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The veteran quarterback for the 5-3 Alouettes hasn't delivered in relief of Alexander, who's sidelined for a second time this season with a hamstring injury. And Friday's matchup against the 1-6 Elks — and Fajardo, now starting ahead of Tre Ford — may end up being Bethel-Thompson's final audition.
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'I'm not thinking about that and I don't think he is either,' Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said. 'He's not 22 years old, he is older in his career. There's more years behind him than probably ahead of him, and that's the same with anybody that's that age. But when you've played this long, you've done it by basically every single day bringing it, and that is what he's continued to do.
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'But ultimately, pro sports is about producing, and that's what you've got to be able to do to stay where you are. I know that's his goal, and that's what our goal is.'
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Bethel-Thompson has started four games this season, with the Alouettes going 1-3 in those contests. He's appeared in eight games overall, completing 90 of 138 passes (65.2 per cent) for 878 yards, with four touchdown passes and four interceptions.
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'Yeah, of course (it's an important game). Important game for everybody. After that performance last week, definitely want to bounce back and have a better performance,' Bethel-Thompson said. 'Looking forward to playing well, playing smooth and protecting the ball.'
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In a 34-6 blowout loss against the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, Bethel-Thompson threw for only 126 yards, completing 15 of 26 passes with one interception.
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Should Bethel-Thompson struggle again during the first half Friday, Maas confirmed he would once again turn to Caleb Evans, even though Evans isn't known for his passing ability. James Morgan, who has yet to log any official CFL stats, would not be Maas's first choice in that scenario.
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'I can assure you that it'll be Caleb Evans that will go in next. But I don't want to think about those things. Those are decisions that get made during the game, not before the game,' Maas said. 'I'm a pretty positive thinker, so starting to think of our second and third quarterback playing, I'm not thinking that way.'