William Stanback's return to practice bodes well for Alouettes offence

While he won’t play Saturday at Edmonton, the return of injured Alouettes’ tailback William Stanback definitely is on the horizon for a team that appears to be gaining momentum.

Stanback practised with the Als for the first time on Tuesday — one of the rare occasions when the players wore pads. It marked his first time on the field since suffering a fractured ankle in the second quarter of Montreal’s season-opening game in Calgary, on June 9.

“Excitement and butterflies all over again,” Stanback said. “I feel like I’m a rookie, working myself back up, starting on the scout team. I’m just trying to bring energy to the (starting) defence, trying to give them the best look I can.”

Much of the wind — and unbridled optimism, it could be argued — went out of the Als’ sails that night at McMahon Stadium after Stanback had to be helped from the field. Before the injury he had carried three times for 11 yards, while catching two passes for 17 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown.

Not only did the Als lose Stanback, they squandered a 10-point halftime lead and were edged by the Stampeders, 30-27 — one of many close defeats suffered by Montreal this season.

“I knew it was serious,” Stanback said of the injury. “As soon as I got hit I felt excruciating pain going up through my leg. I felt like my foot was hanging off, to be honest.

“It just ended too fast for me. I felt like I was starting to get the ball. I was getting things going, scoring the first touchdown, receiving. That (catching the ball out of the backfield) was something I preached about in the off-season; improving and making it an asset.”

The 6-foot, 233-pounder had a league-leading 1,176 yards rushing last season and was the East Division’s nominee as most outstanding player. It was Stanback’s second consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. He was determined to build on that, believing he could reach 2,000 yards on a team that builds much of its offence around him.

“I had so many goals,” he said. “It was just a freak accident.”

The Als have altered their offensive strategy without Stanback and rely on the ground game less frequently behind the tandem of Walter Fletcher and Jeshrun Antwi. With 227 rushing attempts, only Toronto has run less frequently. Montreal is averaging 91.2 rushing yards per game, ahead of only Hamilton and the Argonauts. Canadian Antwi is the Als’ leader rusher, with 518 yards on 88 carries. Fletcher, who has played only nine games, has 327 yards on 56 carries.

“After a while, I started to realize this year maybe this is my team,” said Stanback, now in his fourth season with Montreal. “I do believe, on the offensive side, I do have a larger role now.”

General manager and interim head coach Danny Maciocia wants to see how Stanback’s ankle withstands three days of practice this week. After Saturday’s game, the Als don’t play again until Oct. 11, when they host Ottawa in the first of two games between the teams in less than a week.

“I do anticipate he’ll be ready for Ottawa,” Maciocia said. “We could play him in both (games against the Redblacks) or in just one. If both, you have to have a plan how you’re going to use him. The focus now is on him having a good week of practice and us getting ready for Edmonton.”

Meanwhile, safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy returned to practice following the recent death of his mother. While Dequoy will play this week after missing last Friday’s victory against the Tiger-Cats, he didn’t make himself available for interviews.

In other news, rush-end Nick Usher suffered a potentially serious knee injury against Hamilton. While the Als are awaiting results of more tests, Usher is expected to miss considerable time. Montreal (6-7) has won four of its last five games.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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