Toronto Argonauts’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie does not want to rush franchise quarterback Chad Kelly back into the starting lineup but he could be guiding the Boatmen “soon,” according to the 44-year-old bench boss.
“He was looking decent today running around. He’s still got a little bit of a limp. He thinks he’ll be ready next week, I’m very optimistic on that,” Dinwiddie said.
The 31-year-old Kelly suffered fractures in his leg — right tibia and fibula bones — during last year’s East Final in Montreal, which prevented him from playing in the 2024 Grey Cup at BC Place. He has been cleared for practice but did not dress in Toronto’s first two games, both losses, to begin the 2025 regular season.
“I got to make a decision: can he protect himself, be able to move and play his game? I was watching the Sask game [from Week 12 last year] today in the breakdown and he’s scrambling around making plays. He’s a special type of quarterback and when things aren’t there or if he makes a bad read, he can find a way to recover,” Dinwiddie said.
“He’s got to be able to use his feet, there’s gonna be guys flying around his legs in the pocket. I think once he breaks the pocket he’ll be fine, I’m worried about his pocket movement — that’s when you got guys getting thrown at your legs. I’d hate to have him have an injury that will really set them back going into next year.”
Kelly completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 2,451 yards with 10 touchdowns against eight interceptions in eight starts last season after missing the first nine games due to suspension. The six-foot-one, 216-pound QB also ran the ball 48 times for 214 yards, 4.5 per carry, and five majors.
“We’ve got to be smart about it and I can’t let our record dictate his recovery time. It’s got to be the right time no matter where we’re at. We can’t rush him back because we got to think about his future as well, not just this season,” Dinwiddie said.
The reigning Grey Cup champion Argos are 0-2 and will host the 2-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night at BMO Field with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Expect 2024 Grey Cup MVP Nick Arbuckle to start at QB for Toronto.
