The Argos will wrap up the pre-season by trying to make it two straight wins, coming off an impressive 45-20 win over Montreal last week.
Noah Picton was released after last week’s game, so the Argos will go with their remaining five QBs. James Franklin, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Michael O’Connor, Brandon Bridge and Dakota Prukop are all expected to see time against the Ticats.
Mercer Timmis will miss Thursday’s game against his former team as will another former Ticat, right guard Ryan Bomben. Offensive lineman Eric Starczala will also miss the game.
First-overall draft pick Shane Richards will start at right guard for Bomben. Will Campbell starts at left tackle, flipping spots with Isiah Cage who started at LT last week.
Changes from last week’s game defensively include Frank Beltre, returning to action after missing the Montreal game with an injury. He’ll replace Troy Davis, who was released.
On the d-line Hassan Barry, Jhaustin Thomas and Kingsley Opara were released on the weekend. Added to the roster are a pair of newcomers, tackle Willie Yarbury from Wake Forest and end Cardell Rawlings from Wingate.
At linebacker, Justin Herdman-Reed is out, while John Biewald returns to the Double Blue. At the strong-side spot Caleb Ham moves to defensive half, while Jonathan Dowling moves inside.
In the secondary, Trumaine Washington returns after a minor injury kept him out of last week’s game and will start at cornerback. It was during the pre-season game in Hamilton a year ago that Washington solidified his spot on the roster with an exceptional game, including an interception.
The kicking game has yet to sort itself out. Five players remain in camp and the competition is fierce. This is an area to watch on Thursday night.
The game is on neither TSN or TSN 1050. You can get updates on the game via Twitter by following @TorontoArgos or @MikeHoganArgos