Ticats.ca
“I have to step into every throw. It has to be tight, step-in, a hard spiral. If not, the ball will be underthrown and will float. I have to step into every ball like I’m throwing it through wind. That’s the only way I can complete passes.”
-Anthony Calvillo on throwing while injured. Montreal Gazette
“We can’t let that happen, obviously. We’ve got to keep him standing. No doubt, when he was on the ground, he was hurting. Call it what you want. I did hold my breath, but I would for any quarterback. Certainly, with him, we hold our breath. That’s undeniable. He’s a guy who gives us the hope … a chance, each and every week. It’s part of the game and the quarterback’s going to get hit. We’ve done a reasonable job, over the years, of taking care of him. We hold ourselves highly responsible for that. We’re accountable on all levels, myself included.”
–Montreal Head Coach Marc Trestman on the necessity and the duty of protecting Calvillo. Montreal Gazette
“There’s definitely something about this stadium. It brings out the worst in us. We definitely need to change. They’ve really had our number, especially last year. I can’t say we’re bound to lose here, but I’ve definitely seen a lot of struggles.”
–Alouette receiver Eric Deslaurier on his team’s recent struggles at Ivor Wynne. Montreal Gazette
“I get to finally hit him.” “It’s going to be fun for me. Chasing him around in practice so many times and not being able to hit him – being cussed out by Coach Trestman for getting too close to the quarterback – it’s going to be pretty exciting to now be able to hit him.”
-Tiger-Cat defensive lineman Jermaine McElveen on finally getting the chance to hunt down former teammate Anthony Calvillo. Ticats.ca
“Those guys know me and I know them. They know what I bring to the table, so it’s going to be really fun for me to play against my old team. There’s always extra motivation when you play your old team. I’m going to have a little extra, and when I sack Calvillo I might say a little something. But that’s it.”
-McElveen on the prospect of facing his old team. Ticats.ca
“Everybody’s pumped up, and it’s always good to win, but you shouldn’t let that affect your game, because we’ve got to win again regardless of whether we won last week. We’ve got to continue to get better. I see us as a defence getting better every week. I think we’re all excited for the win, but we’ve got to put that behind us and move on to the next game.”
–Veteran Tiger-Cat linebacker Markeith Knowlton on putting the team’s first win behind them. Ticats.ca
“There’s a bit more attitude but we’ve got to win this second one.” “It’s another division game and you’ve got to win all of these division games and set yourself up for the postseason. So there’s a little attitude change, because we know that this is like playoff time for us.”
-Defensive back Dee Webb on the added motivation of a divisional game. Ticats.ca
“He’s a good quarterback. You can’t take that away from him, Some things you do and it doesn’t matter, because he’s good and he’s been playing for a while. But we’re working on a few things. People always say that press coverage is good, but you’ve got to mix a little bit of everything and try to throw him off a little bit. That way, his reads are off and he’s not reading as fast. He’s going to complete passes regardless of what you do. I mean, he’s been doing it for this long and there’s a reason why. You can’t get down. Those guys get paid just like us, so there are going to be plays that they make and plays that we make. We just need to make more.”
-Markeith Knowlton on the challenge of playing against Anthony Calvillo. Ticats.ca
“They’ve got a good team. They’re very good on offence, and I think they’re still searching for the right personnel groupings on defence. But part of that has to do with things like Dwight Anderson being out. But they’re definitely a very good team.”
-Ticats Head Coach George Cortez on Montreal’s team-wide strengths. Ticats.ca
“Their offence is very good. It’s been very good for a long time and it’s still very good. They’ve got quality receivers, a quality quarterback, a quality running back and they do a good job of protecting the quarterback. That makes them good on offence, and if you plan on beating them you better score some points.”
-Cortez on the multi-faceted nature of Montreal’s offence. Ticats.ca
“You disrupt everybody’s offence the same way: you disrupt the quarterback. You don’t necessarily have to have a high number of sacks, you just have to make him get out of his rhythm, make him move around a little bit and show him one thing and do something else. But that’s the case with all of the quarterbacks.”
-Cortez on the importance of pressure in disrupting the Alouettes’ attack. Ticats.ca
“One thing I saw when I was there, we lost games when they messed up his rhythm. It might not be a sack but it might be collapsing the pocket so he doesn’t have a full throwing motion or getting hands in his face, having bodies around him.”
-Tiger-Cat defensive lineman Jermaine McElveen on pressuring Calvillo. Ticats.ca
“The main thing you have to do with these guys is bring a level of physicality that they aren’t used to seeing. It’s an old cliche: be the hammer not the nail. It applies very well against these guys.”
-Ticat linebacker Jamall Johnson on his defence’s commitment to physical play on Saturday. Hamilton Spectator
“That’s the diversity we have right now with our offence. We have a lot of weapons. Brian’s done an amazing job of stepping in there and making some big plays — especially yards after the catch. But it’s a long season and we’re going to need everybody.”
-Anthony Calvillo on Brian Bratton’s place within his varied offence. Postmedia
“I’ll overcome it by being patient. It’s going to open up. Teams can’t keep doing the same thing. I was getting frustrated, but have learned to live with it. My chance will come. I have to find different ways to get in the game.”
-Alouette receiver Jamel Richardson on his early season struggles. Postmedia
“We feel like we have to score every time. That’s our standard. The offence is supposed to put points on the board and keep the defence off the field. Our job is to score.”
-Montreal receiver Brian Bratton on the duty of the Alouettes’ offensive unit. Postmedia.
