Next Game
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ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO — The Toronto Argonauts are heading to Vancouver in hopes of accomplishing two thing. The first is obvious – return home with a win. The second is to return home as healthy as possible. The club did neither in their Monday matchup with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and now have holes to fill, especially along the offensive line.
Just prior to heading to the airport, Argos head coach Jim Barker confirmed that neither starting offensive linemen Cedric Gagne-Marcoux nor Chris Van Zeyl will make the trip out west as they will remain in Toronto nursing injuries.
Gagne-Marcoux originally injured himself during pre-game warm-ups of the August 14 home game versus the Montreal Alouettes. The first-year Argo missed that game and then sat out the following week versus Hamilton and only lasted one half in his return on Labour Day.
Van Zeyl, on the other hand, injured his back on one of the most unorthodox plays an offensive lineman could possibly get hurt on when he caught a pass after checking in as an eligible receiver only to get hit by former teammate Jason Shivers. Van Zeyl gained the first down yardage needed but paid the price. By the time the Argos punched the ball in for a touchdown a few plays later, Van Zeyl was essentially shut down for the remainder of the game.
Then there is the status of left tackle Rob Murphy. Barker confirmed that the former Lion is questionable for Saturday despite playing the entire game against Hamilton. Murphy is nursing a foot injury and will likely be a game-time decision for Barker and his crew.
So let the roster shuffling begin. The obvious choice to replace Van Zeyl is second-year Argo Shannon Boatman, who filled in earlier in the season for three games along the line. One could assume his experience would be better suited protecting the blindside of QB Cleo Lemon if Murphy is a no-go. Creating more wrinkles for Jim Barker in this scenario is that Boatman (Florida State) is an import and Van Zeyl is a non-import. Should Boatman come on the roster then an import must come off the roster somewhere else.
The other two options at the Argos disposal is reserve lineman Jonathan St-Pierre, who replaced Van Zeyl in Hamilton last week, and 2010 second overall pick Joe Eppele. Eppele has dressed for only one game this season but has yet to see any action along the line.