Perry Lefko
SPORTSNET.CA
In the latest quarterback move by the Toronto Argonauts, Kerry Joseph has been relegated to back and his understudy, Cody Pickett, who started off the season holding a clipboard, has been elevated to starter.
The somewhat bold move was announced on Monday by the team’s new head coach, Matthews, after watching game film of the Argos`39-9 loss to Winnipeg on Friday and in consultation with the team’s personnel evaluators.
The move happens some three weeks after the Argos, under recently-deposed head coach Rich Stubler, traded Michael Bishop to Saskatchewan to make Joseph the undisputed No. 1 quarterback on the team.
“Please by no means is Kerry Joseph the bad guy in this situation,” Matthews said. “The situation was that nine points is not enough. We need to generate more points. We had some good production from Cody at the end. We’ve got to take a look at that scenario. We think we can devise some things. And sometimes guys are victims, not because of their poor play but the play around them. That was certainly the case in a lot of Kerry Joseph’s instance, but when we’re ready to make plays, we need to make plays as well. The quarterback is going to get way too much credit and way too much blame. That’s exactly the case that is going on here. Is this a permanent move? I can’t tell you that.”
Neither of the players were available to talk to the media.
Matthews liked the production of Pickett in the Argos’ loss, even though he came in with 10 minutes to go and the game well in hand for Winnipeg. Pickett, 28, had nine completions in 13 attempts for 100 yards.
“I watched him in practice and he’s really very calm and cool. He went in (the game) and handled the team very well,” Matthews said. “He’s a smart kid, he’s an athletic kid and we’re going to see if he’s ready to play football.”
Pickett is in his second year with the team and this will be his first start. He had some playing time with San Francisco, which drafted him out of the University of Washington in 2004, for a year and a half. He was then traded to Oakland and released. He spent some time last year playing for the Rhein Fire of now defunct NFL Europe.
Joseph, last year’s Most Outstanding Player in the Canadian Football League with Saskatchewan, has struggled in his first season with Toronto, which acquired him in an off-season trade. He has completed only 204 of 370 passes and has 11 interceptions and only six touchdown passes. Last year, he completed 267 of 459 passes for 4,002 yards. He had 24 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He also had 90 rushes for 737 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has run 56 times for 380 yards and has three touchdowns.
But it was in a completely different system than this year.
Matthews said the decision to demote Joseph to backup arose from the body of his games this season and not just the last game in which he threw three interceptions.
“It’s unfair,” Matthews said. “Is it all his fault? Absolutely not. Did some of the guys around him let him down a little bit? Yes. The thing is, it’s a performance-dedicated job and so what we’re looking at is one guy came in and moved the sticks a little bit, showed some promise.
“We said (as a group), ‘”If we don’t take a look at this, how will we ever know?’ So that’s the whole deal. Kerry is a victim – he is a victim – of what the situation is here now. Will we change some things that both of these guys can flourish in? Absolutely. The only difference is Cody’s going to get the first shot at it.”
The move happens some three weeks after the Argos’ traded Michael Bishop to Saskatchewan to avoid the tension that existed between the two and divided the locker room. But Matthews said he is not concerned with any of that or how the media will analyze the move.
“A player’s job is to play, coaches jobs are to make decisions and when you get on the field play,” he said.
Matthews said he did not make the change to send a message to the team.
“I don’t send messages, I make decisions based on what I think is best for the football team,” he said. “Does this got a chance to flip-flop? It depends on what we see. But right now this is where we’re going.”
NOTES: The Argos have signed strongside linebacker Timothy Strickland, who played six seasons in Montreal, beginning in 2002. He became a full-time starter in 2003 and was voted an East Division all-star three times. He was cut by the team midway through last season. Head coach Don Matthews, who is familiar with Strickland having coached him in Montreal for five seasons, said Strickland will not play for the Argos in Saturday’s game in Montreal. The team also announced the signing of defensive lineman Claude Harriott, who has bounced around the National Football League since drafted by Chicago in 2004 but hasn’t played in any regular-season games.
