Montreal Alouettes Bear Woods, James Rodgers Honoured

The Montreal Alouettes won their second consecutive game on Monday and two of their players were named as Canadian Football League players of the week.

Linebacker Bear Woods made a career high 10 tackles and two sacks in the game against the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Woods missed the first part of the season with an injury sustained in the pre-season but has come on strong and performed admirably replacing free-agent departure Shea Emry.

Woods, 27, has 16 tackles and three sacks over his last two games.

James Rodgers was also named Special Teams player of the week. Rodgers put the Alouettes ahead for good with an 80 yard touchdown return on a Justin Medlock punt early in the fourth quarter.

Rodgers was playing in only his second CFL game and now has touchdowns in both of his appearances. He had a rushing touchdown in his debut against the Ottawa RedBlacks. Rodgers, an Oregon State product, had 100 yards on punt returns and another 45 on kick returns.

His brother, Atlanta Falcons running back Jacquizz Rodgers, also had a touchdown on Sunday in his team’s game against the New Orleans Saints. It is very likely not the first time that two brothers scored touchdowns on the same day in two different leagues, but it was surely an interesting Sunday evening for the brothers.

James had bounced around several NFL opportunities before being signed to the Alouettes practice roster. He is replacing the injured Larry Taylor as the Alouettes top returner and it is a job he surely has locked up presently.

The Alouettes play in Edmonton to face off against the Eskimos on Friday night.