Bethel-Thompson, Alouettes look to rebound versus Rourke, Lions

MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes will once again turn to veteran backup quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson on Saturday night when they host the BC Lions at Percival Molson Stadium.

The 37-year-old gets his second straight start behind centre in place of injured starter Davis Alexander. Alexander, who suffered a hamstring injury during Montreal’s win over the Edmonton Elks on June 19, is expected back in time for Montreal’s next game against the Toronto Argonauts on July 17, according to head coach Jason Maas.

Bethel-Thompson will look to rebound following a 35-17 loss last Friday in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats, during which he completed 24 of 41 passes for 203 yards and was intercepted twice.

“Every day I get more reps, I feel more and more comfortable,” said Bethel-Thompson. “I feel like we were prepared last week. I felt like we had a good week of practice and we were ready to go. Obviously that game didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I felt like we had a good preparation again this week.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to come back home, protect our house, and find a way to get a win.”

One area of emphasis for the Alouettes in practice this week was their execution on first-down opportunities. Last week, Montreal (3-1) converted on a season-low 16 first-down chances, a statistic Maas understands is crucial to his team’s overall success on offence.

“You stay on the positive side of things; you have a much better chance of executing,” said Maas. “If you just look at second-down conversion percentage in this league, anything eight-plus (yards) is very difficult to manage, but anything under that is more manageable.”

“It’s obviously a hard down to execute on, but the first down is huge,” Bethel-Thompson added. “The difference between conversion rates on second and medium and second and long is big in this league. It’s big in every league.

“We got to be good at first down and we got to be good in the red zone. I think we’ll do that and we got a good game plan for it.”

While the Alouettes will be without their starting pivot, the Lions (1-3) will welcome back their No. 1 quarterback, Nathan Rourke, on Saturday. Rourke has missed BC’s last two games with an oblique injury he sustained late in his team’s 34-20 Week 2 loss to Winnipeg on June 12.

“I feel good,” Rourke told reporters following Thursday’s practice. “I think, again, it’s one of those things that’s just been based on how it responds. I’ve done a fair amount of stuff this week and continue to try to progress.”

The Lions, who are in search of their first road win of the season, will also be counting on Rourke to lead the team out of a three-game losing streak. The 27-year-old Victoria native threw for 573 yards, recording four passing touchdowns to go along with one rushing major in just two games this season.

“I think he’s feeling good right now,” said Lions head coach Buck Pierce on Thursday. “We want our guys to be able to go out there and perform. Especially at the quarterback position, you’ve got to be able to do everything out there.”

While the Alouettes recognize Rourke’s unique attributes and skill sets, they are focusing on themselves as they look to enter their first of three scheduled bye weeks this season with a win.

“He’s a quarterback that can run the ball,” said Alouettes linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku. “He also throws the ball really well down field. We have to be able to, firstly, stop them on first downs so that we can do what we do best; get some sacks and provoke turnovers.”

“Our defence is going to play hard,” said Maas. “They’re going to give multiple looks and they’re going to play physical. We fly around and play a certain standard of defence. Our guys are excited about playing at home in front of our fans and we could care less who the quarterback is.”

Montreal will be without receiver Austin Mack for the second straight game as he recovers from a hamstring injury. His replacement, American Jalen Wayne, will be making his CFL debut.

On defence, former Lion Joshua Archibald will play his first game as an Alouette in the absence of Dylan Wynn. Meanwhile, defensive back Dionte Ruffin will also suit up for the first time this season, replacing the injured Lorenzo Burns.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.

Jordan Stoopler, The Canadian Press