If patience is a virtue, two Toronto Argonauts are downright righteous by now
Dave Ungerer III and Kevin Mital will make their season debuts Saturday night against Winnipeg at BMO Field. The National receivers have been on the six-game injured list to start the year, and with the Argos set to play their seventh game of the season, the pair is finally eligible to suit up.
For Ungerer, it wasn’t his first extended time on the injured list. After being selected by Hamilton 11th overall in the 2019 CFL Draft, the Idaho product missed the first two months of that season with a hamstring injury, the same injury he suffered during training camp this year.
He missed eight games that season and learned from the process.
“That experience was tough because I was a rookie, and I had never dealt with an injury like that before,” Ungerer told Argonauts.ca. “Everything was brand new. There were so many new things I had to implement into my routine. The reason why it ended up being such a long injury is because I didn’t understand how fragile the hamstring can be, so I rushed back and tore it even worse.”
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
“This one, I really knew what I was dealing with and just tried to do my best not to rush it or push it too much. I understood it would take time to heal this thing and it paid off. I feel like I’ve been ready to go for a couple of weeks now.”
Mital was equally frustrated. Like Ungerer with his initial hamstring injury, the Montreal native hurt his foot in early in his rookie year and has yet to play in a regular-season game.
He did suit up in the pre-season though, and he performed well. In the game against Hamilton played at Guelph, the Argos 2024 first-round pick showed he could play in the pros. Mital caught five passes that night for 104 yards, highlighted by a spectacular 82-yard touchdown catch.
It proved to the Laval product that he belongs in the CFL.
“If I wouldn’t have played these (pre-season) games and I’m coming in the league, and I have no idea what’s going on and my first game would be this week, I would be a little bit more nervous,” he told Argonauts.ca “But I think I can play with these guys, the pre-season games helped.”
The 6’1”, 230-pound receiver also led the Argos in their pre-season game in his hometown with 3 catches for 37 yards against the Alouettes. He did that despite missing the first few days of camp with a separate injury.
“It’s tough mentally,” he admitted. “I’ve been here for, what, two-and-a-half months, and with my other injury at the camp and now I’ve got this one, so in total I have, like, two weeks of practice (laughs). It’s been frustrating.”
Ungerer can relate. After three seasons of not being used by the Ticats, the native of Pullman, Washington signed with the Argos in 2023 and had a career season, 41 catches for 579 yards with three touchdowns. He was also arguably the team’s best receiver in the early part of training camp.
Then, the injury brought that momentum to a screeching halt.
“I worked really, really hard all year round,” said Ungerer. “In the off-season I worked really hard just trying to make sure I was able take my game to another level this year and hopefully accomplish some goals that I had individually. So, to miss the first six games has been really tough mentally, not able to be out there and battle with my team, it’s been really frustrating.”
It’s now time to release the hounds.
On Saturday, Ungerer will start in the same place he succeeded last year, the “Z” position, usually lined up as the outside receiver on the wide side of the field. Mital will back up Sindani at the “R” spot, one of the inside positions on the wide side, the position where he’s eventually expected to become a starter.
Both will be expected to help kick start a passing offence that has struggled at times, though the Argos currently lead the CFL by averaging 29.7 points per game.