Herb Zurkowsky
The Gazette (Montreal)

MONTREAL -- As he walked out of the dressing room - without a limp, his gait seemingly perfect - it was hard to believe Avon Cobourne was suffering from a sprained right ankle.

That has given the Alouettes tailback optimism he won't be sidelined indefinitely. Just don't expect him to play Saturday in Toronto.

"He's certainly not 100 per cent in my opinion," head coach Marc Trestman said. "It's unlikely he'll play."

As expected, Trestman designated American Mike Imoh as Montreal's starter against the Argonauts. He'll be backed up by Canadian Dahrran Diedrick, who had a career-high 127 yards against Hamilton on Monday.

"Dahrran played an exceptional game, but we're staying with our plan," Trestman said. "Dahrran's terrific in our two-back set and on special teams. But, at this point, we're staying consistent with our plan."

Imoh has performed admirably this season, replacing Cobourne for three games after the latter suffered an injury to his left ankle. Imoh improved with each outing. He gained 75 yards on 12 carries against the Argonauts on Sept. 7; 94 yards on 15 carries, scoring once, five days later in a loss at Calgary, and produced 47 yards on seven carries, scoring twice, against Edmonton before being replaced by Diedrick. Imoh has had a hamstring injury the past two weeks, but was on the Als' 46-man roster against the Tiger-Cats.

Imoh made his 2008 debut last month, having recovered from a broken collarbone that sidelined him extensively last season. He was understandably tentative, given the circumstances, but said he'll be much better prepared this time.

"I'm setting the bar way higher. That's the best way to approach it. Last time going in, I didn't want to make any mistakes. I wanted to play a clean game. I don't think the bar was set high enough for the player I am."

Cobourne, meanwhile, was injured after catching an 11-yard pass in the first quarter on Thanksgiving Day. Tackled by Sandy Beveridge, Cobourne immediately knew he was injured, feeling and hearing the ankle "crack and pop."

When Cobourne suffered his original injury, at home against British Columbia, he was limping the next week and thought he had suffered damage to his knee. That's why he's more optimistic this time, suggesting he could return Oct. 26 against Winnipeg.

"It's definitely not as bad as the other one," he said. "With that one, I'm blessed that I'm still playing. The way it happened, I thought it was my knee and it could have been my knee. That takes longer. It could have been the whole season. I thank God it was only three games."

Trestman takes a cautious approach to injuries. But Cobourne, in his first season as the Als' starting tailback, undoubtedly will want to play against the Blue Bombers or the next week, in the regular-season finale at Edmonton.

Cobourne has 950 rushing yards this season and desperately wants to surpass the 1,000-yard barrier, saying he should have been there already. He failed to carry the ball against the Ticats before departing.

"Every running back wants 1,000. That defines a running back, the yards he gets. I know this is a passing league. But if you don't run for 1,000, you're mediocre and you didn't get to the level you want to be at."

After a day off Tuesday, the Als returned yesterday for meetings and films, going on the field only for some stretching exercises. They'll practise briefly today before departing for Toronto tomorrow morning. The last time the Als had a short week - last month after beating the Argos - they were beaten 41-30 by the Stamps and trailed 34-10 at one point.

"Short weeks are part of this league, and I'm non-judgmental," Trestman said. "I look at it as a challenge and embrace it as a challenge. But I also don't want (a poor performance) to happen again. From a learning aspect, we know what can happen in a short week. We know how quickly we need to get back and refocus, be emotionally invested in the next game and mentally ready."

Note - Als receivers Jamel Richardson and Ben Cahoon are the CFL's offensive and Canadian players of the week, respectively.

Courtesy: www.montrealgazette.com