Ottawa?s TD Place, more than any other venue in the CFL, best sums up Ricky Ray?s hard-luck run in recent seasons as an Argo.
Ray was the starter in the expansion team?s home opener three years ago ? Henry Burris lining up in the shotgun for the Redblacks, two veterans, two future Hall of Famers ? as three-down football returned to the nation?s capital.
There was Prime Minister Stephen Harper in attendance among the sold-out crowd, the pre-game atmosphere electric, in contrast to what would become a dull, yet a typically CFL suspenseful ending that wasn?t decided until a late field goal gave Ottawa an 18-17 win.
For Ray, his start at TD Place would be last. That is until this Saturday night when the 1-1 Argos visit the winless Redblacks, the reigning Grey Cup champions who earned a tie and were dealt a loss in opening the season with a home-and-home set against Calgary, the team they beat in last fall?s title match.
As injuries began to mount, Ray stood on the sidelines and watched as Trevor Harris, Ottawa?s starting QB, threw touchdown passes to five different receivers, one of them a one-handed diving reception by another ex-Argo, Chad Owens.
Last year, Ray watched as Logan Kilgore led the Argos to a win in Ottawa, one of the final moments of glory for an Argos team that would go on to lose 11 of its final 12 games.
A home game for the Argos needed to be staged at TD Place when no other venue in the GTA became available, the same year Hamilton would host two Argos home dates.
A lot has changed, most of it for the good, and Ray now enters a game feeling healthy and in tune with the offence and his receivers.
When he previously started at TD Place, Ray had only one legitimate receiver in Darvin Adams, now with Winnipeg, the two hooking up for the game?s only touchdown.
Now, everywhere he looks across the board, Ray sees playmaking ability from a receiving unit that will be bolstered this week by the return of Khalil Paden, an ex-Redblack who fills in for the injured Jeff Fuller.
?I think we?re growing,?? said Ray. ?Obviously offensively, we?re kind of a new team with each other, trying to get that game-time experience of being out there in pressure situations and executing. That?s really what we need.
?In Game 1 (a win over Hamilton), we made a lot of plays, but in reality there were things we needed to do better. In Week 2 (a loss to B.C.), it showed up again, too many negative plays. And by that I mean a penalty here, a misread by me, we miss a block. We just had too many execution things we needed to clean up.
?For us, offensively as a whole, we need to tighten up a little bit more and eliminate some of those plays where we?re not going forward.?
Having a full week of practice to prepare for Ottawa will help.
The Argos? final full day wrapped up on Thursday, the session ending with a remarkable one-handed catch in the far end zone by S.J. Green.
Marc Trestman last coached in the CFL when there was no franchise in Ottawa. He?ll now get a chance to see Ray further evolve in the offence and watch Harris and his arm up close.
Teammates in Toronto, Harris stepped in admirably for an injured Ray. He played lights-out football at BMO Field last season when he led Ottawa to a win over the Argos, who will only go as far as Ray takes them, which can easily apply as well to Harris and the Redblacks.
?I think Ricky is in a really good place,?? said Trestman. ?It?s going to be an ascending experience for him. We?re going to continue to grow, get better. I talked to the guys about that because we have high expectations of ourselves and we need to have that each and every day, each and every week.
?We?re a group that?s been together for three weeks, six weeks altogether, some new terms, new plays, new people, like a lot of other teams as well, but we have high expectations and we want to play better this week.?
PADEN FINALLY GETTING IN
Marc Trestman had a feeling he could incorporate Khalil Paden into the offence the moment saw the wide receiver at the Argos? mini-camp held in Bradenton, Fla.
Paden was hurt during the team?s main camp, but an injury to Jeff Fuller has now opened the door for him to make his first start as an Argonaut on Saturday at TD Place in Ottawa, against his former Redblacks teammates.
?He has a lot of deep post qualities,?? said Trestman. ?He?s a fluid receiver and a good route runner, a smart kid. We?re excited to have him available.?
Ricky Ray now has another burner as an option in Paden, who is faster than Fuller, but not as big and physical.
?I felt really good with him (Paden) in training camp,?? said Ray. ?I felt pretty comfortable with how he was running routes. His body language and all that sort of stuff, I felt really good. Having him back there getting some reps, it felt no different.?
This is a big early-season moment for the Argos, their first game on the road and the first time they?ve had the luxury of a full week to thoroughly review and break down every matchup.
?This will be a gauge in terms of where we are as a team,?? said Trestman of the Redblacks matchup. ?We?ll know a lot more Saturday night.?
Defensively, Trestman sees a sound unit in Ottawa, its pass rushers adept at the twist game, the secondary solid in disguising man and zone coverages.
Offensively, Trestman uses the term ?well-structured? when describing the Redblacks.
On paper, this matchup promises to be very good, highly competitive, likely one or two possessions in the fourth quarter emerging as the key game-winning moment.
Ray was the starter in the expansion team?s home opener three years ago ? Henry Burris lining up in the shotgun for the Redblacks, two veterans, two future Hall of Famers ? as three-down football returned to the nation?s capital.
There was Prime Minister Stephen Harper in attendance among the sold-out crowd, the pre-game atmosphere electric, in contrast to what would become a dull, yet a typically CFL suspenseful ending that wasn?t decided until a late field goal gave Ottawa an 18-17 win.
For Ray, his start at TD Place would be last. That is until this Saturday night when the 1-1 Argos visit the winless Redblacks, the reigning Grey Cup champions who earned a tie and were dealt a loss in opening the season with a home-and-home set against Calgary, the team they beat in last fall?s title match.
As injuries began to mount, Ray stood on the sidelines and watched as Trevor Harris, Ottawa?s starting QB, threw touchdown passes to five different receivers, one of them a one-handed diving reception by another ex-Argo, Chad Owens.
Last year, Ray watched as Logan Kilgore led the Argos to a win in Ottawa, one of the final moments of glory for an Argos team that would go on to lose 11 of its final 12 games.
A home game for the Argos needed to be staged at TD Place when no other venue in the GTA became available, the same year Hamilton would host two Argos home dates.
A lot has changed, most of it for the good, and Ray now enters a game feeling healthy and in tune with the offence and his receivers.
When he previously started at TD Place, Ray had only one legitimate receiver in Darvin Adams, now with Winnipeg, the two hooking up for the game?s only touchdown.
Now, everywhere he looks across the board, Ray sees playmaking ability from a receiving unit that will be bolstered this week by the return of Khalil Paden, an ex-Redblack who fills in for the injured Jeff Fuller.
?I think we?re growing,?? said Ray. ?Obviously offensively, we?re kind of a new team with each other, trying to get that game-time experience of being out there in pressure situations and executing. That?s really what we need.
?In Game 1 (a win over Hamilton), we made a lot of plays, but in reality there were things we needed to do better. In Week 2 (a loss to B.C.), it showed up again, too many negative plays. And by that I mean a penalty here, a misread by me, we miss a block. We just had too many execution things we needed to clean up.
?For us, offensively as a whole, we need to tighten up a little bit more and eliminate some of those plays where we?re not going forward.?
Having a full week of practice to prepare for Ottawa will help.
The Argos? final full day wrapped up on Thursday, the session ending with a remarkable one-handed catch in the far end zone by S.J. Green.
Marc Trestman last coached in the CFL when there was no franchise in Ottawa. He?ll now get a chance to see Ray further evolve in the offence and watch Harris and his arm up close.
Teammates in Toronto, Harris stepped in admirably for an injured Ray. He played lights-out football at BMO Field last season when he led Ottawa to a win over the Argos, who will only go as far as Ray takes them, which can easily apply as well to Harris and the Redblacks.
?I think Ricky is in a really good place,?? said Trestman. ?It?s going to be an ascending experience for him. We?re going to continue to grow, get better. I talked to the guys about that because we have high expectations of ourselves and we need to have that each and every day, each and every week.
?We?re a group that?s been together for three weeks, six weeks altogether, some new terms, new plays, new people, like a lot of other teams as well, but we have high expectations and we want to play better this week.?
PADEN FINALLY GETTING IN
Marc Trestman had a feeling he could incorporate Khalil Paden into the offence the moment saw the wide receiver at the Argos? mini-camp held in Bradenton, Fla.
Paden was hurt during the team?s main camp, but an injury to Jeff Fuller has now opened the door for him to make his first start as an Argonaut on Saturday at TD Place in Ottawa, against his former Redblacks teammates.
?He has a lot of deep post qualities,?? said Trestman. ?He?s a fluid receiver and a good route runner, a smart kid. We?re excited to have him available.?
Ricky Ray now has another burner as an option in Paden, who is faster than Fuller, but not as big and physical.
?I felt really good with him (Paden) in training camp,?? said Ray. ?I felt pretty comfortable with how he was running routes. His body language and all that sort of stuff, I felt really good. Having him back there getting some reps, it felt no different.?
This is a big early-season moment for the Argos, their first game on the road and the first time they?ve had the luxury of a full week to thoroughly review and break down every matchup.
?This will be a gauge in terms of where we are as a team,?? said Trestman of the Redblacks matchup. ?We?ll know a lot more Saturday night.?
Defensively, Trestman sees a sound unit in Ottawa, its pass rushers adept at the twist game, the secondary solid in disguising man and zone coverages.
Offensively, Trestman uses the term ?well-structured? when describing the Redblacks.
On paper, this matchup promises to be very good, highly competitive, likely one or two possessions in the fourth quarter emerging as the key game-winning moment.
