Landry: Healthy Chiles Boosts Argos’ Attack With His Head As Well As His Speed

DON LANDRY – ARGONAUTS.CA COLUMNIST

TORONTO – John Chiles, the injury-troubled wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts, is feeling good these days. So much so, that he can laugh while answering questions about his physical well-being.

“Everything’s good. You can report I’m healthy,” he said. Then he chuckled. “One hundred per cent, I’m good.”

Wouldn’t have always been the case, Chiles laughing off injury woes. But, after a summer and early fall of almost total frustration, Chiles was running crisp routes, full out, at Argos’ practice on Tuesday. He came out of Friday night’s game against Hamilton (his first game action since July 18th) feeling just fine, the hamstring he’d taken months to repair holding up beautifully. Days after that game, feeling top shelf is good news for Chiles, as it’s sometimes the day after where a recurrence becomes apparent. Sometimes the day after the day after.

With 8 catches for 123 yards, Chiles was a key component in Toronto’s comeback win over the Ticats. “It felt good being back out there,” he beamed. “I was excited. I was having fun. I felt like I was a kid again.”

What Chiles possesses had been greatly missed by the Argos. It has to do with speed, yes. But there are more factors at play when it comes to the effectiveness of John Chiles. Some of those factors deal with his head, and are rooted in the knowledge and instincts he gleaned over the years as a high school and college quarterback.

“There’s more to it,” offered up quarterback Ricky Ray, when asked about Chiles’ speed. “He’s fast, he’s physical. And he’s got the ability to make some plays in traffic. You put that combination together and you can do some good things. Speed doesn’t mean anything if you can’t translate that into running good routes and making tough catches.”

“He does have some feel for zones and windows and timing from his days as a quarterback at Texas,” added head coach Scott Milanovich, helping get to the bottom of what makes Chiles the type of receiver who seems to be open an awful lot. “He’s got a lot going for him.”

Chiles jumped aboard the Argonaut ship last season and impressed as a rookie, hauling in 44 receptions for 725 yards and 8 touchdowns, in 11 games. In that season both the positive and negative could be seen. The positives were in abundance when he was on the field. Missing 7 games due to injury provided the downside and a peek into what lay ahead for Chiles early in 2014.

Injuring a hamstring in training camp, it was thought he’d suffered a strain, nothing more. So, Chiles rested it while his teammates were bowing to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2014 season opener. He returned to action for weeks two, three and four, but performed dismally, hauling in just 5 catches for 110 yards in total. Now we know why.

“I thought I’d strained it and I actually tore it,” Chiles confided. “I actually made it worse by continuing to practice and play on it.”

A tear, quite obviously, is much worse than a strain and so Chiles was in for the long haul when it came to healing and rehab. What was thought would be his big, big year was plopped into a holding pattern and it did not sit well.

“I felt like this was my time to take more of a leadership role. It was frustrating because I couldn’t physically do it.”

Last Friday night, the Argos got to see the Chiles they expected all along. Deep catches, short catches, catches in traffic. “I was pleased to see him play so well,” said Milanovich. “We need that kind of vertical, speed threat. A guy that can put fear in the defence.”

He can do that. As noted, though, Chiles’ abilities go beyond being a burner and he knows that his days as a quarterback at Mansfield Summit High School (Arlington, Texas) and as a back-up for two years for the Texas Longhorns (he converted to receiver, full-time, in his junior year) have given him an edge in the receivers’ game.

“As a quarterback, you have to know what everybody’s doing,” he explained.” You kind of have to know what defences are doing. What kinds of different schemes. That stuff naturally translates when you switch over to receiver.”

“From being quarterback, you see the entire field. So I know if this guy goes over here, somebody has to come here to cover this zone and stuff like that. That’s stuff I’ve just learned, accumulated, over the years.”

Ray concurs, after giving the matter some thought. Never having played receiver, himself, it might be a bit of an abstraction to him, but he can see the connection as it plays out in Chiles’ patterns.

“I guess that could help him. He’s been back there. He kinda knows what it’s like to throw to some receivers and what helps you out as a quarterback. So, he can translate that into his route running and make sure that he’s doing the right things to make sure that we’re looking at the same stuff out there.”

Chiles was an honour roll student in high school and university. But, some things are beyond simple explanation, even for a scholar. How his days as a quarterback are consciously helping him find his spots, he can’t, in concrete fashion, say.

“Sometimes I don’t even notice that I’m doing it. I’m just so used to seeing it that it comes natural. It just happens. I really, honestly don’t know how. Sometimes I stop in a zone… I just have a feel for it.”

“He’s an intelligent guy,” praised Milanovich. “To be able to make that transition (from quarterback to pass catcher) as quickly as he has. He didn’t play a lot of receiver at Texas.”

“He’s got a lot of lower body strength that you don’t generally see in a receiver with his kind of speed,” said the coach, when the conversation returned to Chiles’ physical abilities. That kind of advantage, Milanovich says, gives Chiles a boost in another important area; separation ability.

While declaring that Chad Owens is the best of the best when it comes to bursting out of a cut to get open, Milanovich also sang the praises of Chiles.

“I would say Johnny is above average out of his breaks. Which, for a speed guy is pretty good.”

When it all comes together, Chiles can make an important, dangerous difference to the Argos’ offence. After months of babying his torn hamstring, the 26 year old native of Dallas is looking ahead with enthusiasm, as the East race goes down to the wire.

“First time all year I’ve felt healthy. so, I’m pretty excited about that,” he said.

“It was a long time coming.”

While the offence was surging in last Friday’s comeback win over Hamilton, the Argos’ special teams were struggling, giving up big returns on too many occasions. The Ticats were blessed with good field position because of it.

“We’ve got to cover better,” agreed Milanovich. “I don’t worry as much about the return yards (for the Argos) but we’ve gotta cover and change field position.”

Linebacker James Yurichuk says he and his fellow kick cover tacklers are well aware of how leaky they were against Hamilton.

“Top to bottom, we’ve all gotta be better,” he nodded. “”We weren’t attacking. We were playing hesitant.”

Yurichuk, a special teams catalyst who has 86 career tackles on opposition returners (12 so far this season), is certain that the unit he helps lead can close the loopholes against Montreal.

“We’re going to come flying out of the gates on cover teams,” he promised. “They’ve got some great returners back there that can take it to the house at any moment, so we’ve gotta respect that. Only way to do that is with speed and aggressiveness.”