Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

There have been seasons in his Canadian Football League career during which quarterback

Marcus Brady has played sporadically. He attempted only three passes in 2002 as a rookie with Toronto, and seven in 2006, his first season with the Alouettes.

But the veteran hasn’t gone a full season without attempting a pass. And he won’t in 2008, after Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman said Brady would start tomorrow night’s regular-season finale in Edmonton (9 p.m., TSN, RDS, CJAD Radio-800).

The game is meaningless in the standings. The Als clinched first place in the East Division this month, while the Eskimos are destined for fourth in the West and will travel to Winnipeg for the first round of the playoffs.

Brady will play ahead of Anthony Calvillo, the Als’ nominee as the team’s outstanding player. Calvillo, unless an emergency arises, will finish the season with 5,633 yards passing and 43 touchdowns. He’s coming off a poor performance last weekend against the Blue Bombers and won’t play again until the division final Nov. 15 at Olympic Stadium.

Calvillo wanted to play this week, and expressed those feelings to Trestman. But the quarterback quickly emphasized he respects the coach’s decision.

“I’ve had an excellent year to this point,” Calvillo said. “In the big picture, Marcus needs the reps. That’s more important than me going on the field.”

Calvillo denied he’ll be affected by the layoff, noting the Als practised yesterday for the first and only time this week. And if playing 17 instead of 18 games affects opinions when it comes time to naming the league’s outstanding player, so be it.

“That’s something I haven’t even addressed,” Calvillo said. “The numbers are there. We’ll see what happens, but I’m not too concerned.”

Brady’s insertion is only one of a number of roster changes Montreal will make.

Kicker Damon Duval is about to pass a kidney stone and probably will be replaced for one game by D.J. Fitzpatrick, who would be making his CFL debut, Trestman said. Fitzpatrick, who can punt and kick, attended training camp with the Buffalo Bills and has performed in cold weather.

Wide-receiver Kerry Watkins suffered a concussion against Winnipeg and will be replaced by S.J. Green.

Defensively, middle-linebacker Reggie Hunt and cornerback Mark Estelle have shoulder injuries. They’ll be replaced by Dwayne Taylor and étienne Boulay, respectively. Mathieu Proulx will step in at safety

for Boulay, and Chris Smith also is expected to be activated.

Read more…