Ottawa Redblacks turn to Masoli to replace injured Brown

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The Ottawa Redblacks have wasted no time deciding on their starting quarterback for Thursday night’s game in Calgary.

It will be Jeremiah Masoli.

Head coach Bob Dyce confirmed Masoli will get the assignment after the 35-year-old took first-team reps at Sunday’s practice.

He’s replacing Dru Brown, who suffered an ankle injury in Thursday’s 22-22 tie with Saskatchewan.

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The news on Brown is positive, however.

He was on the field at practice, walking without a limp and doing some light throwing.

“Luckily, it wasn’t nearly as serious as we thought it was,” Dyce said of the injury. “So it will kind of be a day-by-day, week-by-week, thing.”

Masoli has made just five appearances while suffering back-to-back season-ending injuries (ACL, Achillies) since signing with Ottawa in 2022.

The former Hamilton Tiger-Cat star agreed to a reworked extension prior to this season, but it wasn’t until two weeks ago that he could participate in practices.

“Jeremiah has played a lot of football in this league, and he brings a lot of experience,” Dyce said in explaining the decision to go with Masoli over Dustin Crum, who had some nice runs, but generally struggled in the passing game when replacing Brown on Thursday. “He brings leadership and good play. What we have to do is get him a little bit more time with the ones, and get him a little comfortable.”

Masoli, who dressed as the team’s third quarterback the last couple of games, is grateful for an opportunity to make his first start since July 8, 2023.

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“Grateful that the coaches trust me with it,” said the CFL East Division most outstanding player in 2018. “That’s why I’m here. Just been working hard, chipping away at it and just been getting better. Just just hope to keep this momentum with the team going.

“It’s been a steady climb with the strength and conditioning,” he added. “With the (training) staff here, we’ve done a great job just kind of staying on track, staying on plan. Don’t let anything really sidetrack us from what our goal was, and we’re kind of right, right where we’re at.”

Working to Masoli’s advantage is the the relationship he has with offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell, who he worked with for for seven seasons in Hamilton.

The Ottawa offence is one he had great success running in Hamilton.

“Definitely grateful to be back with Tommy, to get after it with him, within the way that he does stuff,” said Masoli. “It’s been fun. You’ve seen what we’ve been able to do this season so far, and I still feel like we could do even more. I know everybody feels like that in that room. So we’re looking to just keep building, keep getting better every week.”

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Masoli will not have Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton as a target against the Stampeders.

The rookie suffered a hand injury in the first half of the Saskatchewan game and saw a specialist on Sunday before running through some drills (but obviously not catching any passes) at practice.

Pimpleton is likely headed to the six-game injured list, but considering that he came back into the game after getting hurt, it would be no surprise if he returned earlier.

“He’s a very tough young man,” said Dyce. “There are certain things that the training staff is able to do, to try and fix something like that, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure there’s no long-term implications from that injury. We just felt that we’ve got to investigate all avenues to make sure that Khalil has a nice, long career.”

While Masoli is not lacking confidence in his repaired body parts — “We’ve pushed it really hard to kind of get over that hump and not really think about it mentally anymore and just just play free” — he does admit to a little rust.

“This is kind of like my first time really throwing to a lot of the No. 1 guys,” he said after practice, “so it’s really just going to come with reps and seeing it and doing it. It’s just some of the throws, some of the little nuances on different routes, but nothing too major.

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“You got to get hit, take a hit. … I’m looking forward to that. And then just the little things that you don’t get when you’re not in, just some little communication stuff within the huddle. But that kind of stuff comes back pretty quick.”

He’s also looking forward to joining a team that is 5-2-1 and unbeaten in four.

“We got a great group,” said Masoli. “We got some real good momentum right now. We got some good mojo flowing in the locker room. And, you know, it’s just on us to keep building and get better every week. I mean, to me, the sky’s the limit. We got a tremendously talented team, and we’re working on our mental aspects to back all that up and propel ourselves forward to where we want to go.”

GOING DEEP

Following an investigation, the CFL has issued a statement regarding the incident at the end of Thursday’s game in which a man wearing a camo jacket enraged Dyce and GM Shawn Burke by directing comments with racial overtones or purpose at the Redblacks coach near the Ottawa bench.

The identity of the man, believed to be connected to a league staff member, is not being released.

“The individual involved in the altercation has been identified, and it has been confirmed that he was permitted to be at field level,” read the statement. “However, he was not authorized to enter the player bench area, and he was not authorized to interact with players, nor team personnel. He did so in an inappropriate and inexcusable manner that is not acceptable by league and Ottawa Redblacks standards. The CFL is reviewing its credential policy regarding access requirements.”

Dyce is satisfied with the way the matter is being handled.

“They’ve investigated and did their part,” said Dyce. “There’s a lot of good people in the league … they love this league and they work hard. So I know they take things seriously, and they have. And that’s behind us.”

dbrennan@postmedia.com

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