THE CANADIAN PRESS
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Kerry Joseph is looking forward to being a football player again.
It has been a whirlwind seven months for the veteran quarterback.
In November, he was named the CFL’s outstanding player and helped Saskatchewan capture its first Grey Cup title since 1989. But instead of being able to bask in the glow in the off-season, Joseph was abruptly dealt to the Toronto Argonauts in March, forcing him to not only get settled in a new city but also learn a new offence and get to know new coaches and teammates.
With the CFL regular season slated to kick off next week, Joseph says he’s looking forward to getting into a regular routine again.
“Personally, that’s something I really need,” Joseph said Wednesday on the Argos’ final day of training camp. “It was a frustrating off-season off the field.
“I’m excited about being here, make no mistake about that. But at the same time I’m just ready to go play and put everything else behind me.”
First up, though, for Joseph and the Argos is a final exhibition game against the archrival Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday night at Rogers Centre. The contest will be a final audition for both Joseph and veteran Michael Bishop for Toronto’s starting quarterback position.
Joseph will open under centre and play the entire first half before giving way to Bishop, who will play the second half.
“Don’t read anything into that,” cautioned Argos first-year head coach Rich Stubler. “Michael started last week’s game (a 34-34 tie with Montreal) so it’s Kerry’s turn this time.
“We decided we needed to give them both the first and the second (halves) to see how they ran the team.”
Toronto and the other seven CFL teams will have to make their final roster cuts Saturday. The regular season will kick off June 26 with Montreal at Hamilton and B.C. at Calgary. The Argos open in Winnipeg on June 27 with Edmonton concluding the opening week at Saskatchewan on June 28.
Joseph said being with the starting offence for Wednesday’s pre-game walkthrough gives Thursday’s contest the feel of a regular-season encounter.
“Just going through the walkthrough, being out here with the guys and seeing how they do it (pre-game preparation) at home gave me goose bumps,” Joseph said. “I feel like I’m going into a regular-season game.
“I just want to go out and try to establish myself with this team and let opponents know this is what they’re going to see this year.”
Predictably, Thursday’s game doesn’t quite have the same meaning for Bishop, who completed his seventh training camp with the Argos.
“It’s just another game, another opportunity to go out and try to play well and hopefully make a statement for yourself,” said Bishop, who compiled a stellar 11-1 record as Toronto’s starter last year. “I feel like every year I do a good job but every year that final decision isn’t in my hands.
“All I can do is what I do on the field and do what I can in pre-season games. So far from Day 1 in training camp I’ve done well and that’s all I can control.”
The battle for Toronto’s starting quarterback job has generated the most talk during training camp, and with good reason.
Last year, Bishop wrested the No. 1 job from recently retired veteran Damon Allen and started impressively before sustaining a wrist injury. Although Bishop returned and guided Toronto to first place in the East Division, he couldn’t lead the squad past Winnipeg into the Grey Cup game, which was played at Rogers Centre.
The off-season acquisition of Joseph has fuelled persistent speculation of a quarterback controversy in Toronto, but Stubler has predictably rejected such talk. He says CFL teams have often needed two bona fide quarterbacks to win championships and adds he’s not against platooning Joseph and Bishop if it means winning games.
The Argos are hoping, though, that Joseph can inject more consistency into the offence and take some pressure off a defence that was the CFL’s best last year but often was overworked.
“Right now, I’m comfortable with either guy being on the field,” Stubler said. “That being said, how it will unfold in the next week I can’t tell you today.
“Playing is about players, not about coaches, not about schemes. To get the CFL’s most valuable player is spectacular and to have a guy who won 11 games for us last year is spectacular. Both have had a great camp and both are pushing one another. I’m excited.
“I’m a guy who does things by feel and not by statistics. Statistics don’t really mean anything to me. For me it’s a feel and how they’re moving the football team.”
Joseph said having depth at quarterback is important.
“You can never have enough depth at any position,” he said. “It’s a long grind with 18 regular-season games.
“All you can do is prepare to go out and do your job and work as hard as you can.”
That being said, Joseph is very thankful the twice-daily grind that is training camp is over.
“Camp is important to come in and gel with the guys,” he said. “But I’ve put some years into training camp and you always look forward to that day when it breaks and you can get through the pre-season and get ready for the real thing.”
NOTES — The Argos made a classy move at the end of practice Wednesday. Veteran Toronto Star football writer Rick Matsumoto, who is slated to retire at week’s end, was led into the team’s huddle and presented with a framed No. 22 jersey with his name on the back. The No. 22 is significant because it’s that of former star running back Dick Shatto, who was a favourite player of Matsumoto. In fact, in the huddle, Matsumoto told the gathered players about how he used to jog with Shatto because the two used to live in the same neighbourhood. Shatto died in 2003 at the age of 69.
