By Canadian Press

Toronto Argonauts look to resume their winning ways versus Ottawa Redblacks

Aug 12, 2023 | 2:55 PM

TORONTO — It’s been a different kind of week for head coach Ryan Dinwiddie and the Toronto Argonauts.

After registering six consecutive wins to open its season, Toronto resumed practising this week following its first loss of the year, a 20-7 setback in Calgary on Aug. 4. The Argos (6-1) look to resume their winning ways Sunday night when they host the Ottawa Redblacks (3-5) before heading into their final bye week of the season.

“I was kind of glad it (loss) finally happened,” Dinwiddie said following Toronto’s walk-through Saturday. “We’d been reading the press clippings a little bit and didn’t come in there with a focus that we had to go fight to win a football game.

“It was good to get punched in the mouth a little bit and then we had a little bit of hangover this week off of it. I told the guys on Day 1 that I could kind of tell and to just get over it and get back to work and focus on Ottawa. On Day 2 and Day 3 they were sharp and focused. It was a good learning experience, hopefully we don’t have to have that too many times.”

Toronto defensive back Robertson Daniel made a club-record 16 tackles against Calgary, one short of the league record set in 2019 by Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence. The Stampeders ran for 168 yards on 36 carries (4.7-yard average) versus the Argos.

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Toronto can’t really afford to go into its bye with two straight losses. The Montreal Alouettes (5-3) have registered three consecutive wins to stand second in the East Division.

The Argos lost starter Chad Kelly (ankle) in the second quarter against Calgary after he completed 4-of-6 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Rookie backup Cameron Dukes was 8-of-15 passing for 63 yards and an interception, the turnover coming on an ill-advised pass into the Stampeders’ end zone with Toronto trailing 10-7 but in field goal range.

On the ensuing possession, Calgary recovered a Javon Leake punt-return fumble in Toronto’s end zone on the final play of the opening half for a 17-7 advantage.

“You always want to have a backup that’s polished and won games (but) there’s no one out there right now,” Dinwiddie said. “We’ll grow with Cam, he’ll continue to get better but it was a tough situation for him to come in there and everyone expected him to light (the) world on fire.”

Toronto also lost defensive lineman Jared Brinkman and linebacker Adarius Pickett to injury. Pickett will play Sunday but Brinkman is on the six-game injured list.

Dinwiddie pondered playing Dukes on Sunday and giving Kelly additional recovery time with the bye week.

“If it wasn’t a nine-day week (days between games) we probably wouldn’t be playing him,” Dinwiddie said. “(Kelly) has received treatment, his strength is there and he’s pushing off the back foot.

“I feel good about it that he’ll be out there to play and stay healthy.”

Kelly said both he and Dinwiddie were in agreement regarding his status for Sunday.

“I want to play, I want to be out there, of course, to help my team win,” he said. “RD respects me and I obviously respect his decisions and I think we were both on the same page on what we want to do.

“Obviously you have to be healthy for every game, the best ability is availability. Last week sucked that I couldn’t be out there, it obviously hurt but I think you just have to keep working hard, keep putting in the effort in the weight room and whatever it is to make sure you can withstand this long season.”

Kelly said the message this week for the Argos was a simple one.

“Forget about it (Calgary loss),” he said. “Go back to having great fundamentals, good technique and just stay focused.

“Don’t get too high, don’t get too low and understand what the job at hand is.”

Dustin Crum makes a fifth straight start for Ottawa, having gone 2-2. Crum’s mobility has helped give the Redblacks the CFL’s top-ranked ground attack (126.3 yards per game) but they’re ranked last in passing (204.5 yards) and haven’t scored a touchdown on offence in their last two games. 

Ottawa has also allowed a CFL-high 33 sacks, with 29 coming over their last five games. Toronto is also 10-2 versus the Redblacks dating back to 2017.

“They’re going to try to establish the run to help out their young quarterback and they’ve done that in their wins,” Dinwiddie said. “He runs around and makes plays so we’ve got to keep him in the pocket and make him throw some balls in tight windows and give our secondary a chance for some interceptions.

“If we can keep him in the pocket and stop the run I think we’ll have a good day. But if we can’t stop the run and he’s running as well, it’s going to be a long day.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2023.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press