Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander arrives in Winnipeg on Monday, ahead of this Sunday’s grey Cup game.David Lipnowski/The Canadian Press
From lasers to stem cell therapy, no treatment is being spared for injured Montreal Alouettes starting quarterback Davis Alexander.
Alexander was at the controls for Montreal’s first practice on Wednesday in preparation for Sunday’s Grey Cup game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He was rolling out and jogging, but not sprinting yet because of the left hamstring he tweaked in last Saturday’s CFL East Division final win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Since that game, the plan was for Alexander to have up to five treatments per day.
When asked at Wednesday’s meeting with the media how many treatments he had on Tuesday and what they involved, Alexander said he had five, plus a long one.
“Some of the treatment, obviously, massage,” he said. “We do a little bit of stem, I hate stem, but they gave me some stem.
“We do some laser stuff, ultrasound stuff and then some strength and activation things.”
Stem cell therapy for athletes often involves injections of stem cells into an injured area to promote repair of tissues, reduce inflammation and pain and speed up recovery.
The unbeaten leader said he felt good after practice.
Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander (10) throws a pass in the CFL’s East Final against the Hamilton Tiger Cats, in Hamilton this past Saturday.Peter Power/The Canadian Press
“Better than I expected, just because I think I’m finally not sore from the Hamilton game, so that helps a little bit,” Alexander said. “But I felt great. This is playoff football and I’ll be ready to go.”
Known for his creativity when he sprints out of the pocket, Alexander said he’s not sure when he’ll try to run.
“We have a checklist that we’re kind of going through as the week’s gone on,” he said. “Today was the first practice, so we felt like Day 1 I was able to check off all the boxes that we want to for Day 1.
“Day 2 will be a different task, Day 3 will be a different task. Yeah, just keep going from there.”
Montreal head coach Jason Maas said Alexander moved well in practice.
“He looked great to me, better than I thought he would be,” Maas said. “I think he probably felt better than he thought he would, too.
“There’s been a lot of work put into his body already this week and there’s going to be plenty more to do.”
He reiterated Alexander will play in the Grey Cup.
“He’s going to start, and what I witnessed today, I won’t be surprised that he finishes it, either,” Maas said.
“Trust me, he’s dealt with what he’s playing with. When he’s started a game, he’s dealt with it throughout the entire game and he doesn’t want to come off the field. So the expectation is, when he starts, he’s going to finish it.”
Alexander was limited to seven regular-season games in his first full season as Montreal’s starter because of the hamstring injury.
He heads into the championship game with an 13-0 record as a starter, including a CFL regular-season record of 11-0 that goes back to last year.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson is the backup for the club that went 10-8 through the regular season.
Linemen update
Montreal offensive left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage missed the East final because of a neck injury.
He was on the field Wednesday and Maas was thinking positive about his return.
“It’s healing. It seemed to be much better this week,” Maas said. “The expectation for us is that he’ll play.”
Defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson (shoulder) was also practising.
“He’s going to be a kind of game-time decision,” Maas said.
Wait and see
Receiver Austin Mack was limited at practice.
Mack said he re-injured his leg late in the Hamilton game. It was the same leg that kept him out of six regular-season games.
