The Edmonton Elks walked into this one knowing Montreal was going to be angry, and that's exactly what showed up. A loss that head coach Mark Kilam and quarterback Cody Fajardo both described in blunt terms — no excuses, no spin, just a team that got outplayed everywhere the game is decided.
"We got beat here tonight," Kilam said flatly after the game. Fajardo didn't dress it up either, pointing to Montreal's motivation after a close call the last time these two teams met. "I think they sent a message to the league, like, we're one of the top teams in this league and they beat us in all 3 phases," Fajardo said. "We know that it was going to be a dogfight. But we also knew they were pissed off after we took them down to the wire at our place."
A Third-Quarter Drive That Changed Everything
Kilam pointed to one specific stretch as the turning point — a Montreal drive in the third quarter that Edmonton simply couldn't get off the field. "That drive in the third where we couldn't get off the field and most of it was runs. They pounded us pretty good and you could feel it a little bit in that drive," Kilam said.
Up until that point the game had been tight, tied at the half. But once Montreal started grinding, the momentum never came back to Edmonton's side.
The Third-and-One Decision
Both Kilam and Fajardo were asked about the same moment — a third-and-short decision late in the second quarter where Edmonton opted to kick instead of going for it. Kilam admitted he'd need to review exactly which situation was being referenced, saying he'd "have to look at it," but explained his thinking on the sequence overall: he wanted to get the ball back before halftime. Fajardo, as the competitor he is, wanted to keep the offense on the field. But he backed his coach's process.
"I always let my run hot on game day, so as a competitor I wanted to go for it. But the data says you want to kick the field goal, you get the ball back at halftime, almost a double dip there. We didn't anticipate them going down, kicking a field goal, which kind of nullified our field goal," Fajardo said.
That's the key detail — Edmonton's plan to trade a field goal for another possession before the break got wiped out when Montreal answered right back with points of their own. "So they did a great job of being aggressive with under a minute left," Fajardo said. He still made clear where his trust lies. "So that's why I don't make the decisions, because sometimes they're hasty decisions. And so we trust what Kilam does. We trust the decision that he makes."
Credit Where It's Due
Kilam didn't have much explanation for why Montreal's offense gave Edmonton trouble beyond the obvious — they're just good. "They're really good at what they do. They got full buy-in from their guys. Obviously, quarterback can put it all over the field, but they protect well as well," Kilam said.
Fajardo went further, crediting Montreal's coaching staff for completely changing their approach from what Edmonton had scouted. "Thorpe did a great job of changing up their looks. All the data that they showed, they seemed to flip it on its head and go completely different than what they were doing the first 8 games. So they had a tremendous game plan and it made it difficult on us."
Fajardo Wanted to Finish, Didn't Get the Chance
With the game out of reach, Edmonton pulled Fajardo late — a decision he understood but clearly didn't love, especially given the opponent. Both he and Austin Mack are former Alouettes.
"Yeah, it just sucks. You know me, I'm a competitor. I want to fight. I want to go out and I want to finish the ball with the ball in my hand all 4 quarters. So I'm never happy with it. But I understand that they're trying to protect certain guys," Fajardo said.
He was also asked about an injury to Logan, who left the game early. Kilam wasn't ready to speculate on severity. "Yeah, we'll have to reevaluate all that stuff. We're not making any excuses. We got beat here tonight," he said.
The Job Now: Play Cleaner, Score More
Fajardo's biggest takeaway wasn't about scheme — it was about discipline. Edmonton turned the ball over multiple times, and against a team like Montreal, that's a losing formula no matter how the game plan looks on paper.
"We learned that we gotta play for 4 quarters. Like, we gotta find ways to win football games when it's not pretty. We gotta protect the football. Two of the best teams have taken the ball away, and we took the ball away a couple times on defense, and when we gave them right back to them on offense, I threw a pick, we had a fumble. It's just, we gotta play cleaner football," Fajardo said.
He was also realistic about the scoreboard math against a team playing at this level. "Our job as an offense is to score more points than them. So tonight it would have been somewhere in the 40s, and that's what we got to do to help our defense out."
Fajardo made sure to note the caveat that always comes with an August loss to a good team — this doesn't decide anything in November. "I realize the Grey Cup is not won in August," he said. But he wasn't shy about what he saw from the other sideline. "That's a really good football team with all the injuries they had on defense. They played a hell of a game."
For Edmonton, the message is clear: fix the turnovers, get healthy, and get ready to see Montreal again with the stakes a lot higher than they are right now.
Watch the Full Videos
Edmonton Elks: POST GAME | HC Mark Kilam | 08.08.26
Edmonton Elks: POST GAME | QB Cody Fajardo | 08.08.26