MONTREAL — Tyrice Beverette has some unfinished business after what transpired last year.
The Montreal Alouettes star linebacker watched the Toronto Argonauts hoist their 19th Grey Cup to end last season.
Beverette knows that could have been his team — if not for a string of mistakes.
“We all know in this locker room what we should have did last year,” he said. “We fumbled that ourselves.”
After posting the CFL’s best record, Montreal fell 30-28 to Toronto at home in the CFL East Division final after committing five turnovers, coming up just short of a booking a second consecutive trip to the title game.
The Argonauts went on to roll past the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, while the Alouettes missed a golden opportunity to repeat as champions.
“Left a bad taste in our mouth,” Beverette said. “It’s our duty to go out here and prove what should have happened in that last game.
“We couldn’t want any other game but this one.”
Montreal won’t need to wait for a chance to avenge last season’s crushing ending. The Alouettes host the Argonauts to kick off their season Friday at Molson Stadium.
“It’s a big game, means a lot,” said safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy. “Trying to get that revenge.”
Montreal is running it back with much of the same core, save for a major change behind centre.
Quarterback Davis Alexander — last year’s third-stringer — is the new leader of the offence after the Alouettes traded ‘23 Grey Cup MVP Cody Fajardo to the Edmonton Elks.
Alexander climbed up the depth chart while Fajardo missed time last season, seizing his opportunity by leading a comeback off the bench and posting a 4-0 record as a starter.
Now the 26-year-old American enters a CFL season as a No. 1 QB for the first time.
“I’m excited,” he said. “Trying to take it all the same, not really change much and just believe in our guys, believe in myself, and just do what we’re meant to do.”
Added head coach Jason Maas: “He started in the past, but first start this year, leading a team, I think everyone’s truly excited about that.”
Veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson, acquired from Edmonton in a swap for Fajardo, will begin the season as backup.
In a surprise move, the Alouettes released incumbent starting running back Walter Fletcher as part of their final cuts.
Fletcher rushed for 764 yards and four touchdowns on 141 carries while making 71 receptions for 682 yards and three TDs last season.
Maas has said the decision to cut the 28-year-old Fletcher had more to do with how others played in camp.
Montreal-born Sean Thomas-Erlington will start at running back Friday, while rookie Travis Theis backs up.
The receiving corps remains loaded. Tyson Philpot returns from last year’s season-ending surgery to line up alongside Austin Mack, Charleston Rambo and Tyler Snead.
“They’re phenomenal,” Alexander said. “I’ve said it probably 10 times this year already that I feel like we have the best receiving corps in the league.
“I trust those guys to death.”
Beverette, a nominee last year for defensive player of the year, again leads the defence alongside fellow linebacker Darnell Sankey and Dequoy, while all-star defensive lineman Shawn Oakman joins the fray.
Although Montreal came so close to another Grey Cup berth and brought back much of the same team, CFL.ca ranked the Alouettes last in the East and sixth overall in its power rankings.
It’s a perceived slight the Alouettes are becoming used to. Montreal was ranked ninth to start the 2023 season before beating the odds and winning its eighth title.
“Since I got here, it’s been nothing but disrespect,” Beverette said. “Even the year we won a Grey Cup, even last year, when we were No. 1.
“We know what we put in, we know what we have here, and we know we believe in, so I guess we’re going to see when we step on that field Friday.”
2024 record: 12-5-1, first, East Division
Did you know?: In past years, Davis Alexander worked a second job during the winter months as a waiter at a sports bar in Arizona. That trend stopped this past off-season after the former third-string QB signed a contract extension as Montreal’s starter.
Key additions: QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson (Edmonton), DL Shawn Oakman (Edmonton), DL Byron Vaughns (first year), DB Tiawan Mullen (first year)
Key losses: QB Cody Fajardo (Edmonton), RB Walter Fletcher (cut), OL Kristian Matte (retired, joined B.C. coaching staff)
Players to watch: QB Davis Alexander, WR Tyson Philpot, LB Tyrice Beverette, DB Marc-Antoine Dequoy
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
