The Toronto Argonauts are making a quarterback change in their rematch against the Calgary Stampeders.
Nick Arbuckle will get the start taking over for Cameron Dukes who is listed as a game-time decision. Dukes was limited in practice this week with a foot injury.
Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie didn’t rule out the possibility of Dukes playing.
“We’ll see. Nick is going to start with the fact that it’s a short week,” Dinwiddie said after practice. “I think if it was a longer week (Dukes) is probably playing for sure. We’ll see where he’s at physically tomorrow, get him out on the grass and probably make a game-time decision there where he’s at as far as getting playing time.”
The Argonauts are coming off a 27-23 loss to the Stampeders after allowing 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
Dukes played the entire game, completing 18-of-26 passes for 177 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also led the team in rushing with 12 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown.
Toronto named Dukes the starting quarterback after Chad Kelly was suspended by the CFL ahead of training camp. In his second year in the league, Dukes has thrown for 1,398 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
Arbuckle was brought in by the Argonauts during training camp to provide some veteran insurance. He has made three relief appearances, throwing for 240 yards and an interception through eight games.
One area the Argonauts will look to clean up is the protection in front of the quarterback. Toronto allowed six sacks against Calgary and struggled to get running back Ka’Deem Carey going as he only ran for 31 yards on eight carries.
“Up front, I didn’t think we were that physical, especially in the run game, which we got to be on the second and twos and threes where Ka’Deem can run through some tackles,” Dinwiddie said about the play of his offensive line. “We just got beat up front last week. They’re bull-rushing us on second down and long and if Cam doesn’t get out of the pocket we probably allow a lot more (sacks). I wasn’t too happy with a few of our offensive linemen.”