Redblacks must keep emotions in check when they host Alouettes on Friday night

OTTAWA — Defensive back Jermaine Robinson and the Ottawa Redblacks have no intention of giving Duron Carter any more attention than he deserves.

Ottawa (4-2-1) hosts the Montreal Alouettes (2-5) on Friday night. It’s the first meeting between the two teams since the Redblacks’ 28-13 win June 30, a game that saw Carter knock Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell to the ground following a touchdown celebration.

Carter received a one-game suspension for the incident while Campbell, Robinson and Ottawa defensive back Jerrell Gavins were all fined. Carter appealed his ban and Wednesday met with an arbitrator.

Carter will continue playing until the arbitrator renders a final decision, meaning he’ll be in Montreal’s lineup Friday night. But the Redblacks can’t afford to let emotions get the best of them because Carter leads the Alouettes in receiving yards (564) and touchdowns (three).

“We’re all glad he’s playing, it’s going to make the game even more exciting and make the rivalry even better,” said Robinson. “I know he wants to get some revenge.

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“It’s good to have the best players out there. I think Montreal did what they did as far as fining (Carter) and I think he got enough slack just from the media and fans . . . so now it’s time to get past it and play football. We’ve just got to keep him out of the end zone and play our game.”

Discipline has been an issue for Ottawa as 41 of its league-high 89 penalties have come against the defence. The abundance of flags bothers Campbell, who has taken it upon himself to reduce that number.

“We’ve taken too many penalties and it starts with me making sure we keep track of that,” he said. “We’re trying to be specific on how we’re addressing it.

“We’ve been keeping track of penalties in practice because usually how you practise is how you play and then we’re making sure who’s doing it and what the penalties are. As coaches it’s on us to coach them better. I know we can do some things to coach them better so we take less penalties, but as the weeks go by we’ve got to clean some of that up.”

Penalties have also been a problem for the Alouettes, who’ve been flagged 88 times this season.

Quarterback Henry Burris said Ottawa has enough veterans to ensure the players maintain their composure.

“We understand who the people are in this league that do certain things, but regardless of who it is we just focus on us now,” Burris said. “That’s why we said regardless of who’s playing on their side, regardless of what type of attitude their team brings we’ve got to make sure we stay within our fold.”

Burris made his own headlines last week when the 2015 CFL outstanding player sounded off on national television about unfair criticism levelled at him. Some media pundits questioned the timing of Burris’s comments but he continued to stand by what he said.

“I’m not apologizing for what I said,” he said. “I said what I said and life has moved on for us in this locker room because right now we’re focused on a big game.”

Burris injured the pinky finger on his right hand in Ottawa’s season-opening win in Edmonton. Backup Trevor Harris stepped in admirably before being injury in a 30-29 road loss to Saskatchewan, prompting the Redblacks to take Burris off the six-game injured list early.

Burris was 20-of-34 passing for 218 yards with a TD and two interceptions in Ottawa’s 23-20 home loss to Toronto on July 31. But he completed 26-of-39 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns in the Redblacks’ last game, a 23-20 victory over Edmonton on Aug. 6.

NOTES: With the release of running back Nic Grigsby, Ottawa will go with Canadians Kienan LaFrance and Brendan Gillanders against Montreal . . . Defensive backs Abdul Kanneh and Tristan Jackson as well as offensive lineman Jake Silas will be back in the lineup while defensive lineman AJ Karlen will make his Ottawa debut.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press