Argos’ QB Chad Kelly deems 43-point performance ‘not bad’ in first test against defensive guru Chris Jones

Handling a Chris Jones defence is one of the first major tests for a young CFL quarterback, and Toronto’s Chad Kelly earned a solid grade on Sunday night.

For all the talk of the Edmonton Elks’ offensive struggles, Jones looked to have his characteristic defence mostly figured out heading into Week 3. The Argonauts challenged that narrative, amassing 457 yards of total offence in a 43-31 bludgeoning of the CFL basement dwellers.

However, Kelly’s assessment of the performance post-game was mostly muted, calling it simply “not bad.”

“I thought the offensive line did a fantastic job making sure we were protected. Running backs ran hard, O-line did their thing,” the first-year starter explained. “We found a formation that we liked all day today, so we took advantage of that. I thought 43 points is pretty good.”

The 29-year-old completed 13-of-23 passes for 264 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions while rushing for 24 yards on three carries. Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie was more than pleased with that level of production in the quarterback’s third career start, blaming some of the imperfections on his own play-calling.

“I thought he played well. I didn’t do my best at the end. I felt like the game was out of reach in the third and I got conservative, didn’t put him in the best spots,” Dinwiddie admitted, noting that he was getting ready to sit Kelly for his own protection before a late surge from Edmonton.

“We’ve got to grow, there’s a few plays that he missed. I told him, ‘You’re never gonna be perfect. You could play 12 years in this league and you’re still not gonna be perfect.’ We’ll learn from it, but I feel good about Chad.”

Toronto did most of their damage on the ground, as the potent rushing trio of A.J. Ouellette, Andrew Harris, and Daniel Adeboboye helped the team to 194 combined rushing yards and three majors. However, Kelly calmly managed the offence throughout and never looked rattled, drawing praise from his teammates.

“He just stayed cool through the game. Made a couple mistakes and didn’t let it bother him, which was great to see,” Ouellette told reporters. “As the season goes on, he’s gonna have good plays and bad plays, and it was good to see him just brush it off and go to the next play. He’s gonna be a leader.”

Despite the lopsided stat line, a couple of unforced errors loomed large for the Argos. With Jones’ defence committed to changing their looks and often dropping nine players into coverage, Kelly admitted to pressing too hard at times. The result was a pair of interceptions, both courtesy of veteran defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy.

“I gave the defence one, the guy undercut it and I kind of rushed it. The second one, we called a shot there and I gotta be smarter knowing we’re up and, hey, if it’s not there and they’re dropping nine, just find the check down or make a play scrambling. That’s just being smart,” Kelly acknowledged.

“We should have hung a few more points on the board and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, but it’s still early in the season and we got the win.”

The second pick, late in the third quarter, was quickly forgotten when Toronto’s Royce Metchie returned the favour to Jarret Doege on the next play. The first had a more lasting impact on the game, as Purifoy raced it back 27 yards for a touchdown and a rare Elks lead early in the second quarter.

Dinwiddie was quick to give his quarterback some grace for the early pick-six.

“That really wasn’t his fault. Cam (Phillips) broke it at two yards, he’s supposed to push up to six, so that made Chad late,” the coach explained. “But if you’re late and you don’t see it clean, then it’s okay to kick. If it’s not there, come to your low-level check down or run. That’s stuff that he’s going to learn as we go through this process.”

“Chad’s going to continue to get better. He’s a mentally strong kid, I’m not worried about him. If we have a mistake, he’s going to bounce back.”

That’s exactly what occurred later in the quarter when the six-foot-two, 216-pound pivot wrestled his way out of a certain sack and spun left, buying enough time to flip the ball over the heads of the defence to a wide-open David Ungerer III for a 44-yard score.

“That’s one thing that Chad’s got in his toolbox and it’s fun for me as a coach. I haven’t had a quarterback as athletic as he’s been,” Dinwiddie remarked. “It’s great when things aren’t there and it breaks down, he’s strong enough to kick through a tackle and he’s fast enough to extend the edge.”

The performance stood in stark contrast to the quarterback play on the other sideline, where strong-armed starter Taylor Cornelius found himself benched in favour of the rookie Doege.

Chris Jones has struggled to find a franchise pivot since returning to Edmonton last season and Kelly’s emergence has only rubbed salt in the wound. The Ole Miss product was a long-time member of the Elks’ negotiation list but refused to sign with the team’s previous management group, prompting his rights to be traded to Toronto in late 2021.

The two organizations now stand at opposing poles of the CFL spectrum, with Edmonton floundering without a quarterback and Toronto in the midst of a Grey Cup title defence. Kelly remains careful when speaking of the differences between the two teams, but does not appear to have any regrets regarding his choice of CFL destination.

“I can’t comment on what the culture is over there. I know, at least in Toronto, it’s a good one from top to bottom; coaches, training staff, equipment guys,” he stressed. “Obviously, the players have a two percent mindset. We come in and work extremely hard every day. We make sure we get the work in and fun can wait till after we win.”