Argos maintain even keel after opening win
On to the next one, and don’t dwell much on looking back.
That was the feeling in the Toronto Argonauts locker-room early Sunday night, never mind that the club had just finished thoroughly punishing their archrival, the Hamilton TigerCats.
After beating the Ticats 32-15 in their 2017 Canadian Football League season opener, the Argos will return to practice on Tuesday to begin preparing for the B.C. Lions, who visit BMO Field on Friday night.
“What I do know is, they like to run the football,” Argos linebacker Bear Woods said of the Lions.
“They will do that if you let them, and with (quarterback) Jonathan Jennings and those big receivers, they like to go deep. They will run, throw deep. There’s really no in-between.”
Jeremiah Johnson piled up 92 rushing yards in a Lions loss against Edmonton on Saturday, and the Lions head into Week 2 with 130 yards on the ground, the most in the CFL. In 2016, B.C. was first in the CFL with 2,082 rushing yards.
The Argos, of course, aren’t going to pretend the big win against the Tiger-Cats didn’t happen. What the Argos would love to replicate is time of possession. The Argos had the football for 33 minutes 12 seconds, thanks in part to veteran Ricky Ray’s ability to sustain drives.
No CFL team had the football longer in Week 1.
That was crucial for the Toronto defence.
Head coach Marc Trestman discussed the areas that have to be improved versus B.C. — dropping the ball in the end zone, pre-snap penalties and sacks allowed by the offensive line key among them — but had to give it up for the defence and how the group drove Ticats quarterback Zach Collaros to frustration.
“No. 1, I think the coaches did a very good job,” Trestman said. “(Defensive coordinator) Corey (Chamblin) and his staff did a good job of preparing them. We knew we were going to face a good quarterback and a diverse offence. The guys came out, played with energy, played with passion.”
IN THE HUDDLE
Offensive tackle Chris Van Zeyl paid Ray a high compliment as he took a break from signing autographs for fans on the field postgame. “He makes me and a lot of other guys want to be better players,” Van Zeyl said. “You want to block for him every day. I would play with a broken leg for him.” … And this from Woods on the performance of former Alouettes teammate S.J. Green, who was excellent in his first game since last June after recovering from a knee injury: “I have played with S.J. since 2011 and that was probably the most inspirational performance I have seen since I have been in this league by any player. I won’t forget it.”