Toronto Argonauts quarterback Jarret Doege (7) throws down field against the Edmonton Elks during second half CFL football action in Toronto Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

TORONTO — After rallying the Toronto Argonauts to victory last week, Jarret Doege is expected to get his first start with the CFL club Friday night.

Doege took the majority of starting reps Tuesday as Toronto (5-8) practised for the first time since its 31-30 home win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday afternoon. The Argos host the Montreal Alouettes (6-7) in an important East Division matchup at BMO Field.

Doege replaced injured starter Nick Arbuckle to engineer the Argos' winning drive, which was capped by Lirim Hajrullahu's 48-yard field goal with no time left. Arbuckle (calf) attended Tuesday's practice but didn't participate as Dinwiddie said the '24 Grey Cup MVP -- who's started all of the club's games this season -- will miss two-to-three weeks.

Also not practising was Chad Kelly, the CFL's 2023 outstanding player who's on the six-game injured list still recovering from the fractured tibia and fibula he suffered in last year's East Division final versus Montreal. Toronto could pull Kelly from the six-game list, which would allow him to practise and show if he's ready to return to the field.

"We could," Dinwiddie said. "And if we felt like that was the right route we'd obviously make that decision."

Dinwiddie has been consistent in saying Kelly would resume playing once he was healthy enough to protect himself on the field. That's generally been interpreted as Kelly having the mobility to either move outside the pocket or effectively run upfield.

"It's just right now I want to make sure when we put him out there he's ready to go," Dinwiddie said. "The concern for me is he hasn't played a lot of football in a long time … there's a lot of things that go into it."

Trouble is, Toronto can't get Kelly ready to play if he's not practising.

"That's the tough part, right," Dinwiddie said. "Right now it's mental reps in the meeting room, him getting his work (done) physically on his own."

Dinwiddie said while the hope is for Kelly to return this year, there's also the possibility that he won't.

"There's always hope for it (return)," Dinwiddie said. "He wants to play, we want to get him out there as well, it's just not there yet.

"I wouldn't rule that (Kelly not returning in '25) out. That's kind of where we're at right now, just taking it day by day."

Dinwiddie wouldn't divulge what he and the Argos must see from Kelly before a return under centre this year.

"I don't have a lot of answers when it comes to that," he said. "That's more of an in-house thing for us."

Dinwiddie expects more clarity on Toronto's quarterback situation following Wednesday's practice.

The six-foot-one, 210-pound Doege guided Toronto on an eight-play, 40-yard march against Edmonton that set up Hajrullahu's game-winning boot. The former Elk completed three-of-six passes for 35 yards in his first regular-season action with the Argos.

"He's been here all year but he only got about four days of training camp so he missed those valuable reps younger quarterbacks get," Dinwiddie said. "Once we get into the season, the majority of snaps go to your starter.

"Mentally he's sharp, he's getting it. For me, I've got to make sure I put some plays in gameplan that he's comfortable with and repped before."

Doege, 27, signed with Toronto on May 27 and had one practice before helping the club earn a 30-23 exhibition win over Hamilton on May 30. He likens that scenario to the one he's currently facing as the Argos prepare to play Montreal on a short week.

"They gave me about 30 plays and I went into the pre-season and played well in the game," he said. "Now I've got about 70 plays with about three days of practice so it's essentially the same thing.

"I'm just going to try and get as many mental reps on my own as I can and go in there ready to go."

Doege spent his first two CFL seasons with Edmonton (2023-'24), appearing in 20 regular-season games while completing 43-of-68 passes for 593 yards with four TDs and four interceptions. Doege said the time spent with the Elks allowed him to get acclimated with Canadian football.

"The 12 guys was a lot different when I got here," he said. "Just learning from everybody else -- I had Taylor Cornelius, I had McLeod (Bethel-Thompson), I watched Tre (Ford) -- watching guys in front of me and really learning from everybody's mistakes has helped me."

And if he starts Friday, Doege said it will be important to not dwell upon the importance of the contest.

"When I got into the game (Saturday), I was telling myself, 'Slow the game down, process it,'" he said. "You can't really have the moment be too big for you.

"You don't want to think that this game is going to get us into the playoffs or not. I'm just going to go try to do my job (and) execute the play that's called."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025