Alouettes turn to QB Evans in key Week 8 matchup vs. Roughriders on TSN
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In one of the biggest games of the season so far, the Montreal Alouettes will turn to backup Caleb Evans at quarterback as they take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday in a clash of the CFL’s two best teams.
Watch the Alouettes host the Roughriders LIVE on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on TSN3/4 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Alouettes are coming off their first loss of the season on July 11, dropping a 37-18 decision against the Toronto Argonauts, a game that saw starting QB Cody Fajardo exit with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.
Fajardo has been ruled out for Thursday’s game and Evans will start. Evans replaced Fajardo in the loss against the Argos, completing 12 of 22 passes for 127 yards and throwing for two touchdowns and two interceptions.
“Whenever Caleb has been called upon, he’s been absolutely ready to go in our meetings,” Als head coach Jason Maas said Wednesday morning on TSN Radio Montreal 690. “So it’s been awesome to watch his progression with that. And just to watch how both he and Davis [Alexander] are on the field with the reps they’re getting, making good decisions, being able to be coachable when needed to be but also not hesitating and making good decisions on the field.
“And knowing they haven’t had a lot of reps throughout our season just yet but they’re still putting a lot of work in, which quarterbacks show up early, they stay late, they do all those little things and both our quarterbacks do that.”
In 2023, Evans threw for a total 53 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions as the Alouettes went on to capture the Grey Cup.
Evans started games for the Ottawa Redblacks during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, throwing for a total of 2,580 yards and nine touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions over those two campaigns.
Both the Alouettes and Roughriders are 5-1 through their first six games of the CFL season.