ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
The Argos received a classic case of good news, bad news prior to boarding a flight for Winnipeg.
First, the bad news – veteran ball-hawk CB Byron Parker will miss Friday night’s contest against the Blue Bombers with a shoulder injury sustained last week in Calgary.
Now, the good news – Another veteran, CB Willie Middlebrooks, will make his way off the injured list to off-set the loss of Parker in the starting lineup. After a week of uncertainty, DS Willie Pile will start for the Boatmen. The quarterback of the Argos’ defence had been nursing a hand injury following last week’s game in Calgary and the early prognosis was not good.
“I was told he would be out a minimum of two weeks for sure, perhaps six to eight weeks. So we were just preparing to move on,” said head coach Jim Barker.
Part of that ‘moving on’ included the return of DB Dwaine Carpenter, who had joined the Argos in training camp last month. However, Pile’s quick turnaround ensured that Carpenter’s stay lasted only a day and Barker could not be more relieved to have Pile back.
“He is the glue that holds that group (Secondary) together so having Willie is great. We had two guys hurt at the same position and Jeremy (Unertl) is not going to be able to play.”
Pile’s ability to dodge the injured list is just one of many focal points regarding the Argos’ defensive lineup. Defensive tackle Adriano Belli will make his 2010 regular season debut after sitting out last week’s contest to serve a suspension. Belli will help shore up the Argos’ run defence which has been one of the few units to own Blue Bomber RB Fred Reid’s number in the last few meetings. Reid struggled last year against the Boatmen rushing for only 119 yards and no touchdowns in three contests.
Offensively, the Argos will try and improve on last week’s performance that saw them only generate one scoring drive. Toronto will look to QB Cleo Lemon to continue his growth as he enters his second full CFL game. Despite his early struggles, however, Barker says that he has confidence in Lemon’s ability to continue adapting to the Canadian game.
“A lot of it for him is figuring out where to go with the ball; trying to see things pre-snap so he can make quick decisions and know where his escape lanes are”.
– Argos Head Coach Jim Barker on Cleo Lemon’s learning curve
“He has taken 40 more snaps heading into this week,” said Barker. “The more snaps he takes and the more snaps he watches, he becomes a better player. He is going to get better with every snap he takes and I expect to see a drastic improvement”.
Many would argue that Lemon does, indeed, posses the physical skills to lead this team. Barker, though, stresses that one must understand that reading defences and knowing how to improvise in this offence is completely different than anything else Lemon has faced before.
“A lot of it for him is figuring out where to go with the ball; trying to see things pre-snap so he can make quick decisions and know where his escape lanes are,” said Barker. “Cleo’s biggest disadvantage is that he has never watched a CFL game (before signing with the Argos) and we knew that going in, so he is going to get better with the more that he watches”.
Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. ET at Canada Inns Stadium on Friday night. Fans can watch the game on TSN or hear it on FAN 590.com with Mike Hogan and Pete Martin by clicking here. Following the game, the Argos will head home and quickly prepare to host the Calgary Stampeders in their home opener on July 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET. For tickets, please call 416-341-ARGO (2746) or click here to purchase online.
Additional Roster Notes: Rookie import DB Evan McCollough will make his CFL debut as a reserve cornerback and special teams player…import DE Broderick Stewart, import DB Denatay Heard and non-import DT Adrian Davis have all been added to the club’s practice roster…import LB Jeremy Unertl has been placed on the injured list…import LB Leon Joe has been activated from the PR.