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It is no longer an option, but a requirement, for any football player to be in top shape coming into training camp and Canadian Football League players are not exempt. The Alouettes’ regular-season schedule doesn’t begin until June 24 — St-Jean-Baptiste Day, a day of rest for Quebecers — but the team has been preparing for the season since January.

This year’s CFL schedule was released on Feb. 18 and the league did its best to drum up excitement, but Alouettes rush-end John Bowman wasn’t too pleased, tweeting “3 games in 11 days … Again #PlayerSafety.”

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“In a league where it’s only nine teams you should find a way, in my opinion, to space out games,” Bowman told the Montreal Gazette this month. “Three games in 11 or 12 days is not good enough for me.”

The three-game stretch Bowman singled out is between July 25 and Aug. 4. The Alouettes will be playing three times in 11 days, including once on four days’ rest. The Als will visit the Toronto Argonauts on July 25 before hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 29 and the B.C. Lions on Aug. 4. Montreal is the only team in the CFL scheduled to play on four days’ rest this season, said Paulo Senra, the league’s director of communications.