It was a move many fans had been waiting for. James Franklin was reinserted as the Toronto Argonauts starting quarterback against Hamilton last week, his first start since losing in Winnipeg on July 27.
Franklin got the nod after a strong showing in the fourth quarter of the Argos game the week prior in B.C. In the final 15 minutes of that game he threw for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns, completing nine of his 14 attempts in the process.
That allowed him to remove some rust. The former Missouri Tiger returned to the starting role against the Ticats and finished 22/37 for 292 yards, two TDs and one interception.
Head Coach Marc Trestman didn’t get into the minutiae of Franklin’s performance, instead wanting to focus on the bigger picture.
“I just thought he threw the ball well,” said the coach, singling out late passes to S.J. Green and Armanti Edwards. “He made one poor decision in the game which cost us an interception, but overall he’s moving his feet well. The last quarter of the B.C. game and the first half of this game he was really on it.”
Trestman conceded the offence as a whole experienced a lull in the third quarter, but he was also happy the QB didn’t let that bother him over the final 15 minutes of the game.
“He came back in the fourth quarter and finished strong,” said Trestman, “He was tough in the pocket and made some plays.”
While the coach didn’t get into the miniscule details of Franklin’s performance, the quarterback certainly did. He was specifically pleased with one aspect of his mechanics.
“Balance,” said the Franklin. “I’ve kind of gotten used to, over the years, throwing off balance, so I’ve gotten good at throwing off balance, but throwing off balance isn’t necessarily what you want to do. In the game I think there were only four or five times where I threw off balance. I still made some good throws, but I was really happy I had balanced footwork, and that’s something that I’ve really wanted to nail down for a long time.”
Franklin’s main target against the Ti-Cats was S.J. Green, who had seven catches for 127 yards and a touchdown, surpassing the 9,000-yard mark for career receiving yards in the process.
“I think James played well,” Green told Argonauts.ca. “He distributed the ball through the game plan. There’s lots to hang our hats on and move forward from.”
Green has had to play with three different starting quarterbacks this season. Ricky Ray was QB-1 before suffering a season-ending neck injury. Franklin replaced him before giving way to McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who subsequently was replaced by Franklin. The receiver admits he had it easy in the first few years of his career in terms of QB consistency, but is prepared for whichever passer happens to be on the field.
“At this point it’s just running my route and getting open, and doing what I have to do and being as dependable as I can for whoever is throwing the ball,” admitted the receiver. “My first seven years I was with one quarterback (Anthony Calvillo in Montreal), the back five I don’t know how many different quarterbacks, so I’ve just grown accustomed to the process and the changes and ebbs and flows of the game and just do my job.”
It’s a task Green does exceptionally well, and that’s something that will also help Franklin as he continues his growth as a starting quarterback in Toronto.