The Ottawa RedBlacks are going to give Brett Maher a chance to kick his way into the lineup.

It's expected that Maher, who was the RedBlacks' punter/kicker a year ago, will have a physical and if all goes well, he could be signed by as early as Thursday.

"We're going to check him out and see how it goes," said RedBlacks coach Rick Campbell. "Let's put it this way, he's not here to take a tour of Parliament.

"I thought he kept us in a bunch of games last year. We were flipping field position with him. I believe if you look, he was the second-best (punter) in the league behind (Swayze) Waters. If he's the same guy that he was and he's healthy, there's no question he could help us."

The RedBlacks started the season with Anthony Alix punting, then released him and brought in Andy Wilder, then former Toronto Argonaut Ronnie Pfeffer, who has averaged 41.5 yards on his punts since coming on board. The CFL's leading punter, B.C.'s Richie Leone, is averaging 50.1 yards. In 2014, Maher averaged 45.4 yards, but the RedBlacks cut him in April after he sustained a hip injury while training. At the time, it was thought he could miss the 2015 season.

MAKING SOME NOISE

The RedBlacks piped loud music into TD Place during parts of Wednesday's practice. "It's good to do that," said Campbell. "Saskatchewan always has great fans that make it a great atmosphere. The music's good because it can be distracting so you want to make sure you can still function."

THE END AROUND

For the second time this season, Travis Brown has hurt his right shoulder. And now the linebacker will have to decide what happens next. "We're going to make a plan going forward whether he's going to play through an injury or else get it fixed," said Campbell. "That's going to happen very soon. He's going to have a very big input in that process ... The RedBlacks have cut defensive back Hugo Lopez.

Twitter: @TimCBaines