Can QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson win two straight for the Alouettes?

Ottawa Citizen

4 days ago

A young quarterback might be permitted to lose three straight games because he's experiencing growing pains while continuing to learn the CFL and its intricacies.
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No such luxury exists for a 37-year-old veteran — especially McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who's with a new team and must build confidence with his Alouettes teammates and management.
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Bethel-Thompson won a Grey Cup with Toronto in 2022, but when he led Montreal to a comeback victory last Thursday at Calgary, it might have been among the most important triumphs of his CFL career.
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Now, he must attempt to do it again Saturday night, when the Als host Saskatchewan at Molson Stadium (7 p.m., TSN1, TSN3, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM). The Roughriders (6-1) have the league's best record. Both Saskatchewan and Montreal (5-2) are on two-game winning streaks, while the visitors have yet to lose on the road this season in three games.
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'It felt really good to be part of a winning effort and get over that hump,' Bethel-Thompson said. 'Where I'm at in my life, I'm so proud of the work I'm doing, on and off the field. It shows what I'm doing is paying off and I can still do it at a high level. The exciting part is there's more to get better at. It's only going to be up from here. I want to be the best quarterback I can be for this team.'
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Following losses at Hamilton and against B.C., Bethel-Thompson completed 30 of 40 passes for 280 yards and one touchdown against the Stampeders. In three games, he has thrown for 752 yards and four touchdowns while being intercepted three times. And he'll remain the Alouettes' starter for the immediate future with Davis Alexander remaining on the six-game injured list while recovering from a pulled hamstring.
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'Do I expect to go out there and lose two games in a row? Not at all,' said Bethel-Thompson, acquired from Edmonton last December in a trade for Cody Fajardo. 'Do I expect to play at that level? No. I know what my expectations are. I don't worry about what anybody else says. I've been around long enough. There's so much noise. The only noise that matters is the noise you make within your own body.'
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While the confidence Jason Maas has displayed in Bethel-Thompson never has wavered, the Als' head coach — a former CFL quarterback — realizes that cacophony would have reached a crescendo had Montreal's second-string pivot not defeated Calgary. That's simply the nature of the beast.
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'I think it's just confidence and growth,' Maas said. 'You could see it in practice this week. The way he's commanding the huddle. The way the ball is coming out. The communication with everybody. You could just tell it was a breath of fresh air for him … a monkey off his back, whatever you want to call it. It was.