Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
Cameron Dukes knew it was coming.
The first two weeks of the season were a love-fest as the Toronto Argonauts’ quarterback picked up a pair of wins, threw five touchdowns and for a moment, was the lone starter in the league to not throw an interception.
Over the last two games, where Dukes has thrown five picks — four of them coming last week against the Roughriders — and zero touchdowns while the Argos’ record has evened out to 2-2, the 25-year-old felt the tables turning.
“I think it’s funny too where people are all over me the first two weeks and now people are hating me and doubting me,” Dukes said this week, after his coach, Ryan Dinwiddie confirmed that he’d get the start on Thursday in Montreal against the Alouettes.
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“I mean, hell, I was doubted my whole life. Out of high school, everybody doubted me. When I first came into the league everybody doubted me and again, starting the year, everybody doubted me. So I mean, just keep doubting me. It is what it is. I don’t really care about any of that.
“At the end of the day, I can look in the mirror and know exactly who I am. I don’t need any validation from anybody outside of this locker room. I’m worried about what I can do for this team. I’m not worried about anybody else on the outside.”
It’s the approach you want your starting quarterback to take, as he goes through the ups and downs that will come with your first shot at starting in the CFL. Dinwiddie said he debated going with a two-QB system this week, as the Als surge and sit at 5-0, but didn’t think it was fair to Dukes to limit him after one bad game.
“He’s always pretty cool, calm, collected. Doesn’t let too much get to him,” Dinwiddie said of what he’d seen from Dukes in this week of practice. “(Those things are) good. It’s a good sign, sometimes you’ve got to let stuff go. So you’ve got to have strong shoulders, a big backbone. He has that.”
Taking care of the ball — the Riders scored on two of their interceptions last week — will be paramount to Dukes staying in the game.
“No turnovers. We can’t have turnovers,” Dinwiddie said. “I don’t mind if we punt and we don’t see the field properly. We can’t turn the ball over. That’s cost us the last two ball games.”
As quarterbacks go, so too do teams and that’s true in the good and the bad. There hasn’t been much in-season adversity for Dinwiddie’s Argos since he came in as head coach four years ago. His team is now on its first losing streak since the 2022 season and per Argonauts.ca’s Mike Hogan, a Dinwiddie-led Argos team hasn’t lost three in a row yet. Dukes’ demeanour will have a trickle down effect on the team and while a two-game slide isn’t the biggest problem you can have, it is unchartered territory for this group.
“I told the guys (on Tuesday), I had a Power Point: ‘You’ve got to perform in the storm,'” Dinwiddie said. “So we’ve got to weather the storm and when you’re playing in that storm, baby, big players have got to show up and you’ve got to handle adversity.”
To his credit, Dukes has let the praise and the criticism that’s found him over the last five weeks roll off of his back all the same. It’s easy to talk about the highs and lows that come with quarterbacking; living through them when they come is a different beast.
“I think it’s just being comfortable in my own skin. I don’t really give much thought about the opinions of outside voices and what people think about me,” Dukes said. “I know at the end of the day who I am as a person and what I bring to the team and and what I can do for our team.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate what happened. I made some bad plays, but I also made some good plays in that game, too. I’ve just got to get back to managing games, managing situations and not try to do too much. In those last few drives (against Saskatchewan), I tried to do that. (I) just worry about what’s going on in this building. I’m not worried about what’s outside.”
Dukes and the Argos look to end their two-game slide tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the Als are after a 6-0 start. A Montreal win would also give them the season series over the Argos, on the heels of their 30-20 win at BMO Field in Week 4.
