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New Faces
A couple of defensive backs will make their Ticat debuts in Montreal on Sunday. Woodny Turenne, who was just added to the practice roster on September 27, will fill in at field corner for injured starter Loyce Means.
“He’s got really good cover skills,” veteran defensive back Bo Smith said. ““He works real hard. I remember when I first saw him out here, running hard on kickoff and special teams, he proved himself and earned that spot.”
Dee Webb, who was acquired one day before the CFL’s trade deadline on Wednesday, will see his first action in Black and Gold.
“He’s another veteran, he’s been in the league for a while and he can help us out on the back end,” Smith said.
Turenne and Webb will form a new tandem on the strong side of the field.
“They’re part of the family now,” Smith said. “They’re very physical and very fast players out there.”
That family of defensive backs will be looking to stop the league’s best passing attack, led by Anthony Calvillo of course, on Sunday afternoon.
Jacking Up Jamel
The CFL’s leading receiver has done a lot of his damage against Hamilton this season. Jamel Richardson, who leads the league in a number of pass catching categories, has caught 24 balls for 405 yards and two scores in three games against the Ticats this year – he has been a constant thorn in the side of Steeltown’s defence.
“You have to be a man and be aggressive,” Smith said. “He’s going to make a play, he’s one of the top receivers in the CFL, but when he makes a play you have to knock that play out of your mind and focus on the next one.”
Webb will lineup opposite Richardson for the second straight week – having seen the big, physical receiver on Thanksgiving Monday when he was with the Argonauts.
“I was playing him last week so I still have things fresh in my mind,” he said. “I know what they like to do so I will use that to my advantage.”
One of the biggest ways Richardson eats up yardage is after the catch, he leads the CFL with 556 YAC (yards after catch) yards. Therefore, getting the 6-3 receiver to the ground, if he does make a reception, is paramount.
“When you tackle that guy you have to make sure you wrap him up,” Smith said. “If you don’t wrap him up, you have to make sure the next person can help you bring that guy down.”
“Everybody has to run to the ball and we’ll be good.”
However, Webb plans on limiting Richardson’s chances to running with the football by not letting the ball get in his hands in the first place.
“It’s nothing new to me, I’m used to checking a big-time receiver,” he said. “It’s a challenge for me and I’m going to go out there and conquer it.”
Whatever It Takes
After coming into last week’s contest against Winnipeg and leading the offence to two scoring drives late in the game, quarterback Quinton Porter has earned some more playing time. Porter and Glenn each had their share of first team reps in practice this week, although it is not known exactly how much Porter will be used in Montreal.
“The quarterbacks just want to win, just like everybody else,” head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said. “If there is something else that he can bring to the table that helps us — it’s no different than Terry Grant and Avon Cobourne or no different than any other situation on the field.”
“We’ll have Quinton in, in certain situations and let him go at it,” offensive coordinator Khari Jones said.
Bellefeuille believes the Ticats can utilize the different skill sets of each passer to the overall benefit of the offence.
“We’ll have an opportunity to do different things with each quarterback,” he said.
We will all have to tune in on Sunday to find out just how the pivots are used in tandem.
Further Investigation
Ticats starting centre Mark Dewit on the Alouettes defence:
“They have a variety of looks they’re going to throw at us, so we have to make sure us five offensive linemen and the backs are on the same page so we can pick everything up.
We can’t try to press and do more than we are asked to do. We each have to do our jobs on each individual play and we’ll be fine.”
