Adam Gagnon
“We’ve got excitement going into this week, we got Ricky coming back. Everybody’s excited.”
Receiver Vidal Hazelton was talking with the media after an Argos’ practice this week when he spoke those words, reflecting the ‘joie de vivre’ that was making the rounds in Argoland.
It may not all be about the return of quarterback Ricky Ray to the starter’s role. After all, in this season of displacement – one that has seen the Argos play more “home” games on the road than they have on their actual home field – the team gets to play two at the dome to finish out the regular season.
There’s a certain amount of juice in that feeling and it must be a big part of what has the club’s sails at full billow, attitude-wise. Getting a sure fire hall-of-famer back at the controls, however, is more than just a little bit of icing.
It’s exciting for a team to get a player of Ray’s calibre back, as Hazelton will tell you. You can forgive those, however, who also feel a tinge of melancholy to go along with that considering that the pivot who’s stepping back is doing so with great poise and class. This after – for the most part – performing at a level that was essential to the team succeeding during a trying year of ‘musical home stadiums.’
“It’s undeniable that we’re not in the situation we’re in without the way he’s played,” Head Coach Scott Milanovich told reporters this week, rightfully praising the work of Trevor Harris. “It’s just a difficult situation for all but the good thing for the team is we’ve got two good quarterbacks.”
When the Argos take on one of the league’s hottest teams in the B.C. Lions on Friday night, the man who would have been number one all along if he’d not required shoulder surgery, will be at the helm in his first start of 2015. Ricky Ray looked sharp as ever last week when he came on at the end of the third quarter in a game that was out of reach, against the Montreal Alouettes.
The time seems right for the switch, at least for now. Ray isn’t saying he’s one hundred per cent healthy – “I’m good enough to play and that’s all that matters,” he said this week – but with just two games left in the regular season, Milanovich needs to know just what he’s got in the 36-year-old vet as Ray returns to full-time action.
“We need to find out what Ricky’s capable of doing before we get into the playoffs,” Milanovich told reporters. “Then we need to make a decision as to who gives us the best chance to advance when we get there. So, part of this is a function of that.”
A step back is sometimes the tonic a quarterback needs when he has, as Harris says, “struggled a little bit.” Recall that when Ray joined the Argos in 2012, he played well but not at championship level, as he adjusted to what was a new offence for him. When he was injured midway through the season, he watched things from the sidelines for a few weeks, something that allowed him to achieve a different perspective. When he returned, well, you know the rest because you watched the 100th Grey Cup Game.
This, then, could be the valve that sets Harris right, relieving the pressure while he gets a look at things from a fresh angle, as far as 2015 goes.
“I don’t play for Trevor Harris,” said the fourth-year pivot. “I play for the Toronto Argonauts.” It’s that kind of attitude that has to endear him to Argonauts’ fans as it most certainly has to coaches and management.
“I’m gonna be ready if I’m needed,” he said, just like I have all year. Last three years, really. Just gonna continue to prepare and plug away.”
“It’s just about understanding that you’re going to be needed at some point in the future and you’re doing your team a disservice if you don’t think that way.”
Meanwhile, Ray hits the field and will have the entire play book available to him, something that might not have been possible just a few weeks back. When asked if there’d be any hesitation on his part to make any long throws against the Lions on Friday night, he replied “No there won’t.”
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If there is the question of ramping up chemistry with a number of receivers he’s not spent a lot of game time with, like Hazelton and Kevin Elliott, Ray doesn’t seem too worried about that, as long as everyone is assignment sound.
“I have had a little bit of time with some of them on the side,” he said. “This offence is very detailed so there’s not a lot of freelancing of reads that you’ve gotta make, so we should all be on the same page and be able to go out there and execute at a high level.”
If so, the Argos will be back on the rails and looking to gather some steam for the playoffs, as long as defence and special teams are humming as well. Milanovich has made it clear that the two-game swoon has been a full team effort.
“The one thing I wanna be clear about is this is not Trevor’s fault,” the coach said, adding that, as a former quarterback himself, he can sympathize.
“A big part of me feels for Trevor. I’ve been on the other side of that conversation and it’s hard.”
At least the coach needn’t worry about how his relegated quarterback will handle his situation. Harris, as always, is looking at things from the team’s perspective. When it comes to what he needs to do in light of that situation, he’s clear. And consistent.
“It’s all part of the learning process,” Harris said, echoing a sentiment he has verbalized many times before. “I’ve just gotta take whatever comes in stride and just make myself a better quarterback.”
If he does and if Ray is, you know, Ricky Ray?
Then the Argos will be a primed pump for the playoffs and Milanovich’s difficult decision will have paid off.
