Toronto Argonauts head coach Marc Trestman in the locker room before the game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at BMO Field in Toronto, On., Sunday, June 25, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
Well, that was easy.
The Argos opened the 2017 season with a solid beat down of the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Ricky Ray and company moved the ball at will, racking up 506 passing yards, a career high for the sure-fire Hall-of-Fame quarterback.
Fans, media, and players are still buzzing after the win. The most entertaining game played in Toronto since the 2012 Grey Cup means expectations are now high. Confidence is high, but is there a chance that overconfidence may creep in?
Don’t suggest this to head coach Marc Trestman.
“I think we have too much respect for the people that we’re playing each and every week to be overconfident,” said the coach. “We certainly want to be a confident football team and we want to be confident about what we’re doing.”
The coach seemed to enjoy talking about the mental aspect of the sport.
“I don’t think you can be that self-indulgent and play the game, either as a team or an individual,” he continued. “You’ve got to be prepared and do the things you need to do on a daily basis and go and play with confidence and see where that leads you.”
Trestman talked to his team before Tuesday’s practice about how to deal with success. His starting quarterback said that it’s something the coach has discussed with the team throughout camp – dealing with both success and failure.
“If you face adversity, can you forget about it and line up and do your job on the next play?” explained Ray. “And if you have a good play can you put that behind you as well and line up and do the same thing on the next play? He’s just reiterating that you’ve got to focus in on every play, every game, every day and treat it as a new down or a new day and just be focused on that.”
DeVier Posey experienced success and failure on Sunday, something that should help him as he develops his pro career. Posey had an impressive seven-catch, 147-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Ticats, but also let a potential touchdown pass slip through his hands.
He’s set the bar high for himself, as has his team.
“We have standards that we want to uphold,” the Ohio State product told Argonauts.ca. “We want to make sure we meet those each week. Not perfection, but we know the level that we can play at and we know the talent in the room.”
And as far as the “O” thing creeping in?
“I wouldn’t call it overconfident,” continued Posey, “We want to continue to get better and not leave plays on the field.”
Chris Van Zeyl is the longest-serving Argo. Now in his tenth season in Double Blue, the right offensive tackle has experienced everything from the high of the 2012 Grey Cup win to the low of the Bart Andrus experiment.
He laughed at the concept of overconfidence, especially with his group.
“As an offensive lineman there’s always bad with the good, right?” said Van Zeyl. “You could block your butt off on one play and it still might not be a positive play. As an offensive line, I think we’re good that way, we don’t really have to worry about complacency.”
One of the things Trestman wants to accomplish is turning the team’s general attitude around after, shall we say, a less than ideal 2016. He’s done some subtle things to get the team used to winning.
Take for example the pre-season game in Hamilton. With a minute and a half left in the fourth quarter Toronto – leading by seven points – faced a third-and-three from the Hamilton 53-yard line. Many coaches in that situation would have simply run another play, getting a chance to see one more offensive play on video.
Not Trestman.
Instead, he sent Ronnie Pfeffer and the punt unit out. He wanted to pin Hamilton deep, making it as difficult as possible for them to come back. He wanted to get his team in the habit of winning.
With a pair of victories in the pre-season and a Week One win against the Tiger-Cats, Trestman’s goal of getting the team used to winning is being achieved.
The mental preparation will be important on Friday as cats of a different colour arrive in Toronto from B.C. The Lions are coming off a heart-wrenching loss to Edmonton and should be in a nasty mood when they kick things off Friday at BMO Field.