{"id":159550,"date":"2026-08-07T15:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T15:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/159550\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T15:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T15:24:33","slug":"montreal-alouettes-down-four-starting-defenders-against-edmonton-elks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/159550\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Alouettes down four starting defenders against Edmonton Elks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMontreal Alouettes<\/p>\n

The Montreal Alouettes have moved four starting defensive players to the one-game injured list ahead of Saturday\u2019s game against the Edmonton Elks. All four were non-participants in practice this week. The team issued its official depth chart on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Mustafa Johnson (knee) will be replaced at defensive tackle by Decarius Hawthorne, who made two starts to begin the season before being placed on the practice roster. The six-foot-two, 289-pound native of Birmingham, Ala. made three defensive tackles in those outings, helping Montreal win both games.<\/p>\n

Johnson has had a strong start to the year, recording 17 defensive tackles and four sacks over eight regular-season games. The 27-year-old has made 122 defensive tackles, 21 sacks, one forced fumble, and one touchdown over five seasons with the Alouettes, earning an All-East Division selection in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (adductor) will not play, leaving Micah Awe to start at middle linebacker. The 32-year-old has notched 16 defensive tackles and two special teams tackles in a rotational role this season. He was recently issued a maximum fine by the CFL for a high hit on Vernon Adams Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cantin-Arku has made 38 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, and two sacks through eight regular-season games this year, his first as a full-time starter. The native of L\u00e9vis, Que. originally joined the Alouettes as a first-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft out of the University of Memphis.<\/p>\n

Najee Murray (head) will be replaced at strong-side linebacker by Gemon Green. The 26-year-old signed with Montreal in March and has since played five regular-season games in a depth role, making 10 defensive tackles and two special teams tackles. This will be his first CFL start.<\/p>\n

Murray is one of the longest-tenured members of the Alouettes, having originally joined the team in 2018. The five-foot-nine, 187-pound native of Steubenville, Ohio has tallied 268 defensive tackles, six special teams tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles, and three interceptions over 73 career regular-season games. He helped Montreal win the Grey Cup in 2023.<\/p>\n

Wesley Sutton (calf) is out, leaving Faion Hicks to start at boundary halfback. Hicks made three previous starts at field-side cornerback this season, recording four defensive tackles and one forced fumble. The 27-year-old was originally a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n

Sutton has recorded 24 defensive tackles, one sack, and one interception over seven starts this season. Since joining the Alouettes in 2021, the three-time All-East Division selection has made 280 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, 10 sacks, seven forced fumbles, seven interceptions, and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

David Perales, who was 3DownNation\u2019s breakout player of the week in Week 6<\/a>, has returned from injury to start at defensive end opposite Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund. Donovan Manuel has also been promoted from the reserve roster to fill a depth role at linebacker, while Ty Anderson has been promoted from the practice roster to fill a depth role at defensive tackle.<\/p>\n

The Alouettes have also moved fullback Regis Cibasu to the practice roster and defensive lineman T.J. Guy (ribs) to the six-game injured list.<\/p>\n

Eligible sports bettors in Ontario<\/a> and Alberta<\/a> can find relevant information for wagering on the games by clicking on their respective jurisdiction. Please bet responsibly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Montreal Alouettes<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes have moved four starting defensive players to the one-game injured list ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[349,350,1192,1193,351,352,42359,51347,51348,52,4594,1046,28512,354,37927,35488,17172,35490,50,42360,32794,51349,40482,51350],"class_list":["post-159550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-alouettes","tag-als","tag-canadian","tag-cfl","tag-david-perales","tag-decarius-hawthorne","tag-donovan-manuel","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-elks","tag-elks","tag-faion-hicks","tag-football","tag-gemon-green","tag-geoffrey-cantin-arku","tag-isaac-adeyemi-berglund","tag-micah-awe","tag-montreal","tag-mustafa-johnson","tag-najee-murray","tag-regis-cibasu","tag-t-j-guy","tag-wesley-sutton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}