It’s a familiar sight at the end of Toronto Argonaut practices.
Players, coaches and staff head back to BMO Field after practicing at nearby Lamport Stadium. Most take the bus, some walk, defensive tackle Linden Gaydosh and Offensive Line Coach Jonathan Himebauch arrive via bicycle.
Like everyone on the team, offensive tackle Isiah Cage has made the daily trek back to BMO all season. Sometimes he’s part of a larger group, others he’s walking with two or three teammates. This week, however the trips to and from the stadium were a little different. This week made the journey knowing he was about to start in his first CFL game.
“I’m definitely ready,” said Cage. “The coaches and teammates have done a good job of getting me prepared. I’ve done a good job studying film all week, taking reps with the guys, getting that cohesiveness, getting the calls down and making sure my technique is good.”
Cage is raw by pro standards. He played at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire before getting a chance with the Indianapolis Colts. He was hurt in his rookie season in 2016 and spent the year on Injured Reserve before being released in 2017.
He thought football was over for him. He lost weight to prepare for his post-football career in law enforcement, but then got a call from the Argos. There was one problem, he was physically a shadow of his former self.
“I showed up to camp at about 270, 275 (pounds) so I was pretty light,” Cage admitted, “I’ve been working, trying to get everything back.”
He’s back up to 300 pounds. He gained the weight in the best way possible for an offensive lineman.
“Eating,” said a broadly smiling Cage. “I had to eat more food, like a lot more protein and I got in the weight room with J (Argos Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeoffry Aggabao) working. Keep working and eating.”
The Chicago native won’t be the only newbie on the field for Toronto on Friday night. Drew Brown will handle two of the three kicking duties against the Ticats.
“We like what we’ve seen from him,” said Head Coach Marc Trestman of the rookie. “He’ll do kickoffs and field goals, Zack (Medeiros) will do the punting.”
Brown is right out of college, having been the place kicker for the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the last four seasons. If there’s a bit of déjà vu when thinking of a place kicker named Brown from the University of Nebraska there’s a reason for that. His older brother Kris, 19 years Drew’s senior, spent a dozen years kicking in the NFL, mostly for the Texans and Steelers.
There will also be a different look in the defensive secondary as Matt Webster will start at safety. Unlike Cage and Brown, the Queen’s product has been doing this for a while. He spent three seasons with the Roughriders before heading to the Argos as a free agent before the 2017 season.
Primarily a special teamer here, Webster has already faced Masoli this season and had success against him, albeit in a pre-season game. He played the entire game and performed exceptionally well, picking off the Ticats starting QB in the process. He read a deep Brandon Banks stop-and-go route and sprinted from the middle of the field to the sideline where the ball was heading, jumping the route and getting the pick.
That past success doesn’t have an effect on him one way or the other.
“It was so long ago now,” said the Calgary native. “We’ve evolved and they’ve evolved. They’re a really explosive offence. Everything we’ve done in the past, obviously we can learn from it, but it’s been such a long season since that point. It’s pretty much two new ball teams playing each other.”
As the deep man in the secondary, he’s aware of what the Tiger-Cats do best.
“Explosive plays,” said Webster. “Their receivers make really good plays on the ball downfield. Masoli’s got a lot of trust in those guys and they seem to be firing on all cylinders, so we’ve got to come out with our best ball.”
The Argos have a chance to get a look at some new players now that the playoff math works against them. Cage, Brown and Webster will all get a chance to make an impression in new, or different roles and hope to take advantage of their opportunity.