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OL Drew Desjarlais to miss second start for Ottawa Redblacks
By 3Down Staff -October 17, 2025
Despite a change at quarterback, the Ottawa Redblacks will not be starting arguably their best offensive lineman for a second consecutive week.
Drew Desjarlais, the second-highest paid offensive lineman in the CFL, is listed as a backup behind American rookie D.J. Jones at right tackle after being deemed questionable with a back injury. The 28-year-old, who has been playing out of position due to other injuries along the offensive line, was listed as a game-time decision last week and was unable to make the start, giving way to Jones at the last minute. He bears no game-time designation this week but appears unlikely to play unless there is an emergency.
Jones will be tasked with protecting quarterback Tyrie Adams, who is making his first start since 2023. Dustin Crum will sit out this game with a head injury, while Dru Brown will technically dress as the third-stringer despite being shut down with a knee injury.
Canadian defensive lineman Daniel Okpoko (knee) will sit out this week, while American defensive back Robert Priester is a healthy scratch. Returner DeVonte Dedmon and Canadian safety Justin Howell will draw in for depth.
The Ottawa Redblacks (4-12) will host the Montreal Alouettes (9-7) for their final home game at TD Place on Saturday, October 18 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met on Thanksgiving with the Alouettes winning 30-10 to keep their hopes of finishing first in the East Division alive.
The weather forecast in Ottawa calls for a high of 14 degrees with a 40 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, RDS, and CTV in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 690 in Montreal and TSN 1200 in Ottawa.
https://3downnation.com/2025/10/17/ol-drew-desjarlais-to-miss-second-start-for-ottawa-redblacks/
Montreal Alouettes almost unchanged for rematch with Redblacks
By 3Down Staff -October 17, 2025
The Montreal Alouettes need a victory on Saturday to stay in contention for first place in the East Division, and it appears health won't be an obstacle to that goal.
The team has made just one roster change ahead of their rematch with the Ottawa Redblacks, making rookie American linebacker Caleb Johnson a healthy scratch. The 27-year-old joined Montreal's practice roster in August and made his regular-season debut last week. He didn't register any statistics and was mysteriously signed to a contract extension through 2027 on Wednesday.
Fellow newcomer Bubba Bolden will serve as his replacement, making his CFL debut. The former Miami Hurricanes star has been on the practice roster since September. Over three seasons with the Hurricanes, he made 127 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, five forced fumbles, and two interceptions, while being named second-team All-ACC in 2020.
The Montreal Alouettes (9-7) will visit the Ottawa Redblacks (4-12) at TD Place Stadium on Saturday, October 18, with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met on Thanksgiving with the Alouettes winning 30-10 to keep their hopes of finishing first in the East Division alive.
The weather forecast in Ottawa calls for a high of 14 degrees with a 40 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, RDS, and CTV in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 690 in Montreal and TSN 1200 in Ottawa.
https://3downnation.com/2025/10/17/montreal-alouettes-almost-unchanged-for-rematch-with-redblacks/
Haha, google Montreal Alouettes and click on the first hit
https://en.montrealalouettes.com/
Site doesn't work: they've had their SSL cert revoked. Hahaha. What the actual...
I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen an actual revocation ruin a site (you're supposed to put in a new cert if it's revoked).
Someone might want to tell them...
Quote from: Tecno on October 17, 2025, 08:40:18 PMHaha, google Montreal Alouettes and click on the first hit
https://en.montrealalouettes.com/
Site doesn't work: they've had their SSL cert revoked. Hahaha. What the actual...
I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen an actual revocation ruin a site (you're supposed to put in a new cert if it's revoked).
Someone might want to tell them...
The link works for me.
Didn't the Bombers forget to renew their website domain a few years back?
Quote from: gobombersgo on October 17, 2025, 08:48:21 PMThe link works for me.
Didn't the Bombers forget to renew their website domain a few years back?
Yeah, we lose access to the forum on an almost regular basis.
Quote from: Jesse on October 18, 2025, 04:28:48 AMYeah, we lose access to the forum on an almost regular basis.
Way overstated. We have lost access to the forum 3 times since 2007.
Quote from: ModAdmin on October 18, 2025, 06:25:43 AMWay overstated. We have lost access to the forum 3 times since 2007.
Hmm... my memory says more than that... but it may just be the anger talking 8) 8)
It would be ok, except 1 of those times was through most of the playoffs we were going all the way in!! I think it came back up for the cup? Or was it down for that too. That was baaaaaaaad.
Otherwise, not a bad job. But you're missing quite a few "9's"... I'm in the industry and if I was down for more than 10 hours I'd never work again (and that's only when I have the excuse of Rackspace being totally useless -- under 1 hour if it's my fault).
Quote from: gobombersgo on October 17, 2025, 08:48:21 PMThe link works for me.
Ah, it's a Firefox thing. Either Chrome isn't checking the CRL (by default?) or FF is doing something wonky again. Strange, because the MTL site has worked for me all season.
Davis Alexander is getting beat up early in this game.
First drive - goes down in a heap after taking a helmet to the elbow on his throwing arm.
Second drive - takes another hit to his throwing arm but somehow completes the pass.
Meanwhile - TSN shows MBT on sideline with a wrap in his elbow. He's probably thinking about the time he got benched for 3 games when he hurt his elbow.
Maltos Diaz with a 5 yard run on a botched C1 attempt. Fumbled ball OB on tackle.
Zema with a pass out of punt formation. Great tackle by Adeboboye to stop it short.
Tyrie Adams finally moved the ball. Eugene Lewis with a good snag for the TD.
Hopefully Montreal uses up all their tricks plays by the time they play the Bombers in the playoffs.
Montreal has been playing on a short field in the second half. Ottawa defence has actually been playing fairly good, limiting MTL to field goals.
Has Richie Leone always been so slow & deliberate when punting? 2nd time in 2 weeks with a punt blocked.
Quote from: gobombersgo on October 18, 2025, 08:43:11 PMHopefully Montreal uses up all their tricks plays by the time they play the Bombers in the playoffs.
They re probably playing it close to their chest and running vanilla today but they don't look overpowering by any stretch.
Ottawa made it a lot closer in the end than it really was.
The Ottawa defence finally broke late in the third quarter and that was it.
Quote from: Stats Junkie on October 18, 2025, 07:33:28 PMDavis Alexander is getting beat up early in this game.
Ya, I just started the game and have seen 2 Alexander arm hits so far. Did HAM pay OTT to maim him? ;)
I'm not sure losing Alexander is worth it to get these wins when HAM almost certainly will win the E anyhow. MBT can beat OTT (probably), rest Alexander until the ESF. MTL can do absolutely nothing and still win 2nd.
Quote from: Stats Junkie on October 18, 2025, 08:06:56 PMZema with a pass out of punt formation. Great tackle by Adeboboye to stop it short.
That was an amazing stop. Looked like the fake punt was going to be unstoppable, then he sheds the block and makes a tough stop. That's the extra-effort you want to see this time of year. The faker may have made a mistake though, he may have had it if he kept going north, instead of the little dance he started right when the hit arrived.
4Q4:16 refs & command missed a clear H2H onto Adams. How does command miss this? The last replay they showed made it totally clear. And in live time you can see his helmet snap: that's usually a hint at H2H.
And they took forever to get the next play going so command had plenty of time.
That dude took a pounding all night, least they could have done was give him this extra 15Y!
CFL should just strike the tandem block penalty from the rule book. It occurs often and yet is NEVER called, since Proulx did one like 5+ years ago.
There was a real egregious one in this game where the hoggies were both pushing and pulling the carrier directly. So obvious, but no one cares. So get rid of the rule. Otherwise you just know there will be ref who will screw a team one day in some huge game like a GC by suddenly calling it.
Quote from: Tecno on October 19, 2025, 07:04:36 AMCFL should just strike the tandem block penalty from the rule book. It occurs often and yet is NEVER called, since Proulx did one like 5+ years ago.
There was a real egregious one in this game where the hoggies were both pushing and pulling the carrier directly. So obvious, but no one cares. So get rid of the rule. Otherwise you just know there will be ref who will screw a team one day in some huge game like a GC by suddenly calling it.
I really don't like this aspect of the game. Ball carrier gets pushed from behind is supposed to be a player safety issue hence the call for a tandem buck block. The play is supposed to be whistle dead when the ball carrier is wrapped up by the defense and his forward progress has been stopped. Teams have adapted to the rules and once the runningback is wrapped up and his forward progress is slowing, in come the Higgins to push the pile whereby they push the defender and pile and you get these 6-8 player piles slogging down the field. So push the player, flag, push the pile, go ahead. It's slug football, and it slows the game down. I'd like to see them change the rule to pushing the pile vs player and it would stop, as really the defense was going to stop the ball carrier until the hoggies come in and start bulldozing. When a pile happens, Kill the play, period.
Quote from: Tecno on October 19, 2025, 02:01:01 AMYa, I just started the game and have seen 2 Alexander arm hits so far. Did HAM pay OTT to maim him? ;)
I'm not sure losing Alexander is worth it to get these wins when HAM almost certainly will win the E anyhow. MBT can beat OTT (probably), rest Alexander until the ESF. MTL can do absolutely nothing and still win 2nd.
It would certainly be in the Bombers favour if they faced the Ti-Cats in the ESF rather than the Als, one playoff win is better than 0.
Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on October 20, 2025, 04:59:02 PMIt would certainly be in the Bombers favour if they faced the Ti-Cats in the ESF rather than the Als, one playoff win is better than 0.
Agreed, but it's out of MTL's hands. They need BLM to have a bad-BLM day against a complete garbage team. Even an off BLM might win that one.
If HAM is going to "get hot" going into the post-season, they need to do it pronto.
Quote from: dd on October 20, 2025, 02:21:57 AMI really don't like this aspect of the game. Ball carrier gets pushed from behind is supposed to be a player safety issue hence the call for a tandem buck block. The play is supposed to be whistle dead when the ball carrier is wrapped up by the defense and his forward progress has been stopped.
Agreed on all. I think Proulx got heck for actually flagging it that one time years ago. No one flags it now.
Many times, like in this game, the hoggie was PULLING the carrier from in front, which is even more obvious and egregious. Still, no flag.
I think the rule should be changed to differentiate between pushing/pulling the carrier directly and pushing a pile. If there is a team B player in between the carrier and the hoggie, I'm ok with that push. And the way I read the rule it sounds like that would be ok.
Of course, when there's a huge pile, half the time you can't tell what's going on. But the other half there's clearly direct tandem blocking going on, and if they want to ignore it then just eliminate the rule.
Whether it's a push or a pull it's a foul, it's for player safety in that the ball carrier doesn't lose control over where he's going or what he's going to collide with, why they don't call it is beyond me, I call it every time I see it in amateur ball and it is becoming more frequent with the nfl making the 'tush push' famous. I hate the play. Requires zero skill