MONTREAL – Kerry Watkins hopes he will be a key part of the Montreal Alouettes air attack again.
The 32-year-old receiver seemed to drop out of sight as he missed training camp and most of the first month of the CFL season after having his adenoids removed to correct a sinus condition.
Even when he returned, the New Orleans native wasn’t having many passes thrown his way, and wasn’t making catches at anything close to frequency he did in the previous seven seasons when he was Montreal’s main deep threat.
But he began looking like his old self in a win Sunday against Hamilton, when he caught four passes for a season-high 60 yards. It included a 22-yard touchdown catch that gave the Alouettes a 21-9 lead in the third quarter.
“Everything’s working itself out,” Watkins said Thursday. “I’m in a rhythm now. The body’s good. I’m making plays when my numbers called. And the coaches never lost any confidence, so I’m satisfied. I’m playing my role and doing what I’m asked.”
It’s good news for the Alouettes (10-5) as they head into a showdown for first place in the East Division Saturday against the Blue Bombers (9-6) in Winnipeg. Montreal can clinch first place and a bye to the East final with a win.
The two teams have a win each against one another this season, each winning on the other’s home turf, so the game will settle the season series between them as well.
Watkins showing a return to form adds another weapon to quarterback Anthony Calvillo’s air attack that so far this season has featured two main targets.
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They are Jamel Richardson, who leads the CFL with 100 catches and 1,559 receiving yards, more than 400 yards ahead of second-place Geroy Simon of British Columbia, and slotback S.J. Green, who has 74 catches for 990 yards, only 10 yards short of his first 1,000-yard season.
Brian Bratton, who is 17th in the league with 52 catches for 629 yards, has done his part and they have also been aided by tailback Brandon Whitaker’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.
Whitaker leads the CFL in rushing with 1,186 yards and his catching ability has him leading in yards from scrimmage with 1,766.
“We’ve got two main guys that have had a lot of balls thrown at them _ that’s the way it is,” said Calvillo. “You also have Brandon London who has crept his way up there, and you have Whitaker coming out of the backfield.
“And my favourite, a guy who can play anywhere on our offence, that’s Brian Bratton. This guy’s is an amazing receiver. He can go into any position if we have injuries. He can adjust. So it shows we have a lot of depth. It makes it unique. We have our main targets but there’s not a major dropoff when we get to our third or fourth receiver.”
Watkins had five straight 1,000 seasons from 2005 to 2009 but fell 30 yards short last season when he missed five games with a shoulder injury. He had been on pace to match his career best 1,364 yards from 2005, when he was a CFL all-star, and was averaging a career-high 17.3 yards per catch.
The sinus trouble that emerged in the off-season wasn’t properly diagnosed until he got to Montreal for training camp. After camp, he went on the nine-game injured list, but was able to get back after missing five.
“It was pretty tough to sit out,” he said. “I hadn’t played since November last year.
“When I came back it took four or five games to get going. That was my training camp phase. As a competitor, it’s tough to sit there and watch the guys go to war.”
When he came back, his play looked listless. Few passes came his way and he dropped a few balls that would have been easy catches in the past.
“I understood what was going on,” he said. “I hadn’t been there and the guys earned everything they got.
“I just had to wait my turn and continue to build it up until everything worked it’s way out.”
Watkins is known as a strong route runner who can use his speed to stretch defences, which helps open spaces for those on shorter routes.
“Whenever you miss camp it affects you,” said Calvillo. “It took him a while to get his game conditioning back, but you could see the speed in practice.
“The coaches have seen that and with that, he’s going to get more opportunities and we need that because he’s a big weapon for us.”
Coach Marc Trestman said injured defensive back Jerald Brown will come off the nine-game injured list next week and he hopes to have him back before the end of the season, but another DB, Dwight Anderson, was still hampered by a quadriceps injury.
As for three players out with concussions, middle linebacker Shea Emry is “starting to come around” and safety Etienne Boulay may be well enough to start attending meetings next week, but safety Tad Crawford attended the game Sunday and “didn’t feel well,” said Trestman.
Now backup defensive lineman Chima Ihekwoaba has also seen a doctor about headaches.
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