It may only be pre-season but they're still playing to hurt.  Brandon London of the Als was reminded the hard way.

On the Als' first offensive series London went high into the air but smacked down to the turf hard. London was taken immediately into the dressing room but told his teammates he "was cool" suggesting no serious injury. 

In fact London was knocked out briefly and despite a possible concussion was able to walk off the field himself.

Adrian McPherson's pride may have been hurting too.  He threw for only 5 yards and a pick in 7 attempts before being yanked.

Josh Neiswander threw to rookie candidate Travon Patterson for the first TD of 2012 in the 2nd quarter to give Montreal a shortlived 7-6 lead after a pair of Winnipeg field goals. 

The Als' new defensive scheme came up with 5 quarterback sacks in the 1st half alone.  New defensive coordinator Jeff Reinebold has vowed to be more aggressive in 2012.  The Als finished with 6 sacks on the night, giving up 18 first downs and 340 yards of offense.

Anthony Calvillo did not play but reassures his fans saying he'll return to practise this weekend and start vs. Toronto Tuesday.  The future Hall of Famer rubbed shoulders with Expos legend Andre' "The Hawk" Dawson as the Expos' reunion 1981 team was honoured at halftime by the Als. (That's Peter Dalla Riva, Canadian Football Hall of Famer with Hawk and AC pictured to the right).

John Bowman was on the sidelines throughout the night with a brace on his knee and holding crutches.  He's recovering from arthroscopic surgery Wednesday, will have the brace removed by Monday and return to rehab training as soon as next week.  Bowman is counting on playing in regular season Week 4 at the latest.

Adrian McPherson after working to streamline his delivery with longtime NFL quarterback Steve DeBerg in the offseason, struggled: completing just 1 of 7 with an interception in the opening quarter.

Bright spots came on the ground: Victor Anderson rushed for 39 yards on just 4 carries, Garrett Wolfe 36 yards on just 4 carries and Noel Devine 32 yards on 5 tries.  CFL rushing king Brandon Whitaker did not play---he'll make his pre-season debut Tuesday vs the Argos.