logo
Argonauts' injury bug continues. Now they've lost a star player after he was hit by a car

Argonauts' injury bug continues. Now they've lost a star player after he was hit by a car

The Toronto
Argonauts
just can't seem to catch a break this season on the injury front.
As a couple of much-needed reinforcements are returning for the struggling defending Grey Cup champions, another key member is going to miss extended time.
Reigning
CFL top lineman Ryan Hunter
suffered a serious shoulder injury this week when he was hit by a car while riding a scooter in Toronto. A team official confirmed Hunter is expected to be out at least six to eight weeks.
The 30-year-old North Bay, Ont., native had been one of the most durable players on a banged-up Argos team, appearing in all five games this season. His untimely injury comes as the Argos await the return of
quarterback Chad Kelly
, who suffered a broken leg in last year's East final and has already been ruled out for Thursday's road game against the Montreal Alouettes (3-2).
Nevertheless, the Argos will welcome back two key players who had been sidelined with injuries as they try and dig themselves out of a 1-4 hole following a bye week.
All-star linebacker
Wynton McManis
and running back
Deonta McMahon
have been cleared to return to action after missing several weeks. McManis, 30, suffered a right-knee injury during the team's
first home game of the season against the Calgary Stampeders
. McMahon, 25, sprained his ankle in the same game.
Their return is a breath of fresh air for an Argos team still struggling to find its footing.
'Wynton is the leader of that defence and he gets those guys lined up, communicates the calls,' head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said after Tuesday's practice. 'Getting him back I think is going to elevate the play of the other guys. We know who Wynton is, he always makes plays, he's got a knack for finding the football and we need that this week.'
The Argos have especially suffered in
the running game
this season, averaging a league-worst 46.2 rushing yards per game after Week 6, with a total of 231 rushing yards in five games. The return of McMahon should help.
'D-Money (McMahon) gives us that explosiveness, the shiftiness. We need him at the back for catching the ball and we haven't had that for a few weeks,' Dinwiddie said.
The head coach expects his team, fresh off a week of rest, to cut down on its turnovers and take care of the football on both sides of the field while winning the special-teams matchup against Montreal — a team that already
beat Toronto in the season opener
.
'The penalties have been killing us. When we play clean football, play physical, execute, I think we should have a great day,' he said.
McManis said it was tough to be on the sidelines watching the team struggle and not being able to help on the field. That said, it was also important to let others lead, 'get their feet wet and kind of see what we got' in his absence.
Now healthy, McManis is looking forward to being able to 'fly around, make some plays' and ultimately help his team get some wins. Staying upbeat, despite their record, is also important.
'I think the culture around here that we have to keep everybody's spirits up,' he said.
'No one around here feels like a loser, no one around here has a loser mentality. None of us feel like (we're a 1-4 team). We just know we've got to have some urgency and detail in getting the job done, just trying to be right.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders change styles to dominate B.C. Lions
Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders change styles to dominate B.C. Lions

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders change styles to dominate B.C. Lions

The Saskatchewan Roughriders badly needed a mid-season makeover. Even while winning four of their first five CFL games this season the Roughriders had been slow starters who eschewed deep passes, rarely blitzed opposing quarterbacks, got caught being too enamoured with themselves and were heading to an unfriendly stadium to play the red-hot B.C. Lions. So the Roughriders made some strategic changes and beat the Lions rather easily on Saturday, grabbing a 16-point lead and — despite some late-game foibles — cruising to a 33-27 victory inside B.C. Place Stadium, where Saskatchewan had lost its three previous contests. The Lions were also on a two-game streak, with victories in their last two road games, before falling to 3-4. Instead of relying solely on their predictable short-passing attack, Riders quarterback Trevor Harris took advantage of decent protection by his offensive line to complete four long passes of 30-plus yards, which included 50- and 30-yarders that Dohnte Meyers caught for touchdowns. Harris wasn't sacked and, despite Darius Washington making his first CFL start at left tackle against a strong defensive line, the Roughriders also got 72 rushing yards from A.J. Ouellette and 12 from Ka'Deem Carey, who left the game with a gruesome knee injury in the third quarter. 'We know we're an explosive offence,' said Meyers, who led all receivers with 132 yards on seven catches. 'That's what we want to do and continue to be explosive throughout the game. 'Just because you may start fast, we want to finish fast also. That was the goal this week.' It didn't happen exactly like that. Meyers' touchdowns came on Saskatchewan's opening possession of each half, so after his third-quarter major put the Roughriders ahead 30-11 they scored only one more field goal from Brett Lauther, whose 4-for-4 day outing improved his season success rate to 70 per cent (14-for-20). While completing 23 of 30 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, Harris said during a halftime interview the Roughriders' offence needed to keep attacking its opponents. Instead the Roughriders became more conservative and subsequently replaced Harris with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens in an ill-advised attempt to kill the final minutes of the fourth quarter. That silly strategy actually set up Lions QB Nathan Rourke's third TD pass and ensuing two-point convert, which pulled the Lions within six points and a failed short kickoff away from somehow winning a game that shouldn't have been that close. On defence the blitz-adverse Roughriders repeatedly blitzed Rourke, who sometimes escaped but often overthrew open receivers because of the pressure. With a penchant for playing zone defences, it was surprising to see the Roughriders blitzing different linebackers and defensive backs while sometimes deploying a three-man front. Rourke was sacked once, completed 27 of 41 passes for 337 yards and was intercepted when Riders linebacker A.J. Allen, who led his team with six tackles, tipped a ball to teammate Marcus Sayles. Everyone is calling it a 'bounce-back game,' a 'rebound' from the Roughriders' lacklustre performance one week earlier, when a match against the visiting Calgary Stampeders was rescheduled from Friday night to Saturday afternoon because of smoky air. The home team barely quivered while being eviscerated 24-10 in that contest. 'Do we have a glass jaw or not?' Riders head coach Corey Mace had wondered afterwards, using an old boxing analogy, following his team's first loss of the CFL season. It turns out the Roughriders are more tough-to-knockout George Chuvalo than glass-jawed Gerry Cooney. They were angry after the loss to Calgary. The offensive and defensive lines had been dominated in the trenches, a fact noted by Mace and validated by the players. They also thought they may have become too egotistical about their unbeaten record. They began last week's workouts with a rare, pads-on practice that featured lots of popping. The players told reporters afterwards they had learned a lesson from the loss and they vowed to work harder, which allowed them to keep pace with the 5-1 Stampeders atop the West Division. They didn't mention the strategy changes, a little nip-and-tuck that lets the Roughriders look at themselves in the mirror again. Related Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive linemen are ticked off ... at themselves 10 Thoughts: Roughriders put together redeeming performance against Lions The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Alonso (hand) sits for Mets, putting team-record consecutive games streak in jeopardy
Alonso (hand) sits for Mets, putting team-record consecutive games streak in jeopardy

San Francisco Chronicle​

time6 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Alonso (hand) sits for Mets, putting team-record consecutive games streak in jeopardy

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso didn't start Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds because of a right hand contusion, putting in jeopardy the New York Mets All-Star first baseman's team record for consecutive games played. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Alonso — whose 353 consecutive games played are the second-most in the majors behind Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson (717 games) — told him he felt the discomfort in his hand following his second at-bat Saturday, when Alonso flew out in the third inning of New York's 5-2 loss. 'He got jammed a couple times and it just got worse,' Mendoza said Sunday. X-rays on the hand were negative and Alonso had treatment before series finale. Mendoza said he hoped Alonso, whose streak of 205 consecutive starts dating back to May 31, 2024 ended, would be available off the bench. 'When you're dealing with a hand injury, we thought it was best to get ahead of ourselves here, because it can linger,' Mendoza said. 'Hopefully he's a player for us.' Alonso hasn't missed a game since June 17, 2023, the final day of a 10-day stint on the injured list because of a left wrist bone bruise and sprain suffered when he was plunked by the Atlanta Braves' Charlie Morton. Mark Vientos started at first base, his first appearance at the position since July 14, 2024. Alonso, who remained on the free agent market last winter until signing a two-year deal worth $54 million with an opt-out following this season on Feb. 12, is hitting .276 with 21 homers and a team-high 77 RBIs. But he is batting just .223 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his last 30 games, during which the Mets have gone 10-20 to fall out of first place in the NL East. ___

Trevor Harris throws for 3 touchdowns as Roughriders best B.C. Lions 33-27
Trevor Harris throws for 3 touchdowns as Roughriders best B.C. Lions 33-27

Yahoo

time7 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Trevor Harris throws for 3 touchdowns as Roughriders best B.C. Lions 33-27

Even after a dominant win, Trevor Harris and his team see room for improvement. The Saskatchewan Roughriders struck early on Saturday and jumped out to a 17-1 lead over the B.C. Lions before the end of the first quarter. They finished the night with a 33-27 win that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggested. On the sidelines, Harris and his teammates felt they were in charge for the entire game — and that feeling may have led them to ease up late, the quarterback said. "It's a great lesson for us to never let off the pedal," he said. "I thought we played a really good four quarters for the most part offensively. But you'd like for us to be able to finish a little bit better in the red zone, and a couple little mistakes here and there. "But obviously, any time you can get a win on the road against a good B.C. club that's been playing very, very well lately, we'll take it." Harris connected on 23 of his 30 passing attempts for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the West Division matchup. Kicker Brett Lauther added four field goals for the Riders (5-1), including a 45-yard strike in the first quarter. "I'm very pleased with the entire team. Just how they responded to all the challenges they put on themselves is incredible," said Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace. "But we're always talking about finishing and we want to finish the game even better than we did tonight. That's why I love this group — a win is awesome, and we'll celebrate that. But within those, we'll always try to find and look for ways to get better." Nathan Rourke chalked up 337 passing yards with three TDs for the Lions (3-4). The Canadian QB made good on 27 of his 41 attempts, had one interception and was sacked once. The Riders had 506 yards of net offence across the game, compared to 373 yards for the Lions. "I don't think we played well enough to win. I certainly didn't," Rourke said. "And I like to give credit where credit is due — I thought their defence, their team, that they outplayed us. But I don't think we're that much further behind. And so I think we beat ourselves." Saskatchewan struck early on Saturday, with Harris lobbing a rainbow to Dohnte Meyers deep inside Lions' territory less than five minutes into the game. The American receiver nabbed the ball and darted into the end zone for Saskatchewan's first major of the night. The offensive onslaught continued with Harris sailing a 29-yard pass to Joe Robustelli to put the visitors back in scoring position late in the quarter. The quarterback followed up with a short dish to A.J. Ouellette, who dashed five yards into the end zone. Lauther made the convert and the Riders went up 17-1. B.C.'s offence finally found its footing with just seconds to go in the first. Rourke escaped the pocket and fired a 40-yard pass to Ayden Eberhardt, who stepped over the goal line for the Lions' first TD of the night. The two sides traded field goals in the second quarter, with Lauther connecting on 27- and 41-yard attempts and B.C. kicker Sean Whyte sending a 47-yard kick through the uprights. Saskatchewan headed into the locker room up 23-11. The Riders picked up right where they left off out of the break. Less than four minutes into the third quarter, Harris found Meyers deep in the red zone for a 30-yard touchdown. Saskatchewan's biggest problem of the game came midway through the third when Ka'Deem Carey was taken down by Lions linebacker Micah Awe, in a play that left the running back writhing on the turf in obvious discomfort. He was eventually helped off the field by two trainers, putting no weight on his right leg. Mace didn't have an update on Carey's status after the game. "I don't know much about it, man. Just positive vibes for him," the coach said. "But happy as ever that he's part of this organization and he's got a lot of people in this locker room that love him." B.C. got a spark late in the quarter when Eberhardt reeled in a 39-yard pass from Rourke. The Lions capped the drive with a gutsy play, going for pay dirt on third down where Rourke sent a rocket soaring to Stanley Berryhill III deep in the end zone. The home side then attempted a two-point convert, a move that paid off when the QB spun off a tackle and connected once again with Berryhill on a three-yard toss that cut Saskatchewan's lead to 33-19. With 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, B.C. added one last major with Rourke handing off to Eberhardt and the receiver rushing in for his second TD of the night. Running back James Butler muscled his way through traffic for a two-point conversion that sealed the score at 33-27. That drive says a lot about the Lions, Rourke said. "The guys want to fight, they want to play, they want to play for each other, they don't want to give up," the quarterback said. "That's what makes it frustrating, is that I think we've got the right pieces this year. We've just got to put it all together."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store