Naylor’s Kickoff: CFL dealing with multiple COVID concerns

Dave Naylor

TSN Football Insider

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Back in late July, CFL teams were looking forward to the resumption of games and the gradual reduction of COVID-19 protocols for players and fans, with the anticipated retreat of the virus in the face of mass vaccinations.

A lot has changed a month later, and not for the better.

With cases on the upswing amid slower vaccination rates, five of the league’s nine teams are still dealing with limited capacity at their stadiums. While the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were the only team to open the season requiring vaccination from fans, that trend has spread quickly to the point that seven of nine teams now require fans to have proof of vaccination or a negative test. It’s expected that number will soon be nine of nine.

The league is also dealing with its first outbreak, with the Edmonton Elks finding positive tests among at least 14 players, resulting in the postponement of a game that was scheduled to be played Thursday night in Toronto.

The status of that game remains uncertain as the league scrambles to find available dates in Toronto and opens the possibility of it being played in Edmonton as an Argos “home game.”

Meanwhile, a federal ban on unvaccinated individuals using planes and trains is coming by the end of October, raising the possibility that unvaccinated players may not be able to play road games beyond that point.

All indications are charter flights will not be exempt from the ban, meaning there will be no way for some players to get to some road games this season.

That will be less of an issue in the East, where teams can travel to in-division road games by highway. But it’s going to be a huge issue in the West, especially at playoff time when the weather changes, with the season pushed back to a Grey Cup on Dec. 12 in Hamilton.

It’s understood that players who can’t travel to road games aren’t going to be paid.

And while teams can’t cut players for not getting vaccinated, it’s easy to see how that could factor into a decision to part with a player – whether the team admits it or not. Simply put, what’s the value of a player who won’t be available for road games during the final stretch of the regular season and playoffs?

The league also must decide how it plans to deal with a potential competitive balance issue where some teams are going to be more affected by the flight ban on unvaccinated individuals than others.

The federal government has not been specific about the date on which the ban will go into effect, beyond saying it will happen no later than the end of October.

So, while games in October may be affected, we can only say for certain the ban will have an impact on the final three weeks of the regular season and playoffs.

Should the ban go into effect a week earlier, it would play a role in all four CFL games in Week 13: Calgary at Ottawa, Hamilton at Edmonton, B.C. at Toronto, and Saskatchewan at Montreal.

Here are nine regular-season games after Oct. 31 that will be of concern:

Nov. 5: B.C. at Hamilton, Edmonton at Saskatchewan
Nov. 6:  Montreal at Winnipeg
Nov. 12:  Calgary at B.C.
Nov. 13: Winnipeg at Montreal, Saskatchewan at Edmonton
Nov. 19: Edmonton at B.C,
Nov. 20: Saskatchewan at Hamilton, Winnipeg at Calgary

All of this has been used by teams to drive home the importance of being vaccinated to players, many of whom remain defiant.

The fact that the Elks’ case involves a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated players may limit the league’s cause in pushing for vaccinations. But the federal flight ban isn’t something the players or the union can fight, as it lies beyond the CFL’s control.

Anecdotally, there appeared to be an uptick in players and staff getting the vaccine across the league this week.

But four weeks in, a season that began with such optimism about the direction things were headed has a very different feel.

Maier makes successful debut

Jake Maier overcame a shaky start that included two interceptions to rally his team for a come-from-behind win over Montreal last Friday, a victory that saved the Stampeders from falling into an 0-3 hole early this season.

Maier, who had never thrown a live CFL pass before facing Montreal, threw for more than 300 yards against the Alouettes, a remarkable accomplishment against a team considered to have one of the league’s better defences.

Calgary head coach and offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson had the courage of his convictions in promoting Maier into the starting role over Michael O’Connor, who had been listed as No. 2 the week before. The fact that O’Connor is Canadian shouldn’t affect the decision, but it did lead to some disappointment among fans and media given the rarity of starting opportunities for Canadian quarterbacks.

In the end, Dickenson was right.

Dickenson has undoubtedly ridden the talents of Bo Levi Mitchell for much of his success as a head coach, with his influence playing no small part in the quarterback’s success. But he’s also gotten a lot out of his backups.

Nick Arbuckle started seven games for Calgary in 2019, having only thrown 25 live passes in his career, leading the Stamps to a 4-3 record while throwing twice as many touchdowns as interceptions and putting up three 300-plus-yard games.

Combined with Maier’s start last week, that’s 5-3 with four 300-plus-yard games from Stampeder backups since 2019.

Evans starts for Ticats

There’s plenty of anticipation about Dane Evans’ first start of the season at quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, versus Montreal on Friday night.

Evans was a mystery before he took over the starting role from Jeremiah Masoli midway through a game in Week 7 of the 2019 season, leading the Ticats all the way to the Grey Cup game.

Evans wasn’t great in that championship game, but up until that time he’d been more than steady, completing 72 per cent of his passes with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while suffering just one loss during the regular season.

After Masoli re-signed in Hamilton as a free agent, the Ticats declared an open competition for their starting quarterback job, a unique situation for a team coming off a 15-3 season.

Masoli won the job but not until the very end of training camp. So, when the league’s highest scoring team in 2019 stumbled out of the gate offensively with just 14 points in a pair of losses to Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, it was logical that people would wonder about a quarterback switch.

The Tiger-Cats have had some struggles on the offensive line, breaking in a new centre and playing with some inexperienced tackles, so it’s not like the offence’s problems can be hung solely on Masoli.

And when Evans entered the team's second game late against Saskatchewan, he fared no better, completing just three of 10 pass attempts.

Officially, the change has been made due to Masoli’s sore ribs and not his performance. But it sets up a dilemma should Evans get the offence going against Montreal, especially given that Hamilton already has two losses in this 14-game season.

With back-to-back games coming up against an improved Toronto team, Hamilton doesn’t have the luxury of evaluating its quarterbacks over the course of the season.

A Wilder finish

In the National Football League, it’s common to see teams finish out games by handing the ball repeatedly to a running back, grinding out yards to move the chains and kill the clock.

It’s a strategy that can turn the end of NFL games into snooze fests, but it works.

Ending a game that way in the CFL is a lot more difficult, given the three downs versus four, the shorter play clock, and the fact that the clock stops after each new set of downs in the final three minutes.

That’s why we don’t often see what Edmonton did to close out its win over B.C. on Aug. 19. The Elks handed the ball to running back James Wilder Jr. seven consecutive times before quarterback Trevor Harris knelt one final time in victory formation to seal a 21-16 win.

Wilder thrives on touches, so this was right up his alley. But you sure don’t see that tactic often in three-down football.

Miller sets new benchmark

Most young Canadian defensive backs and linebackers in the CFL must cut their teeth on special teams before seeing any meaningful time on downs. Special teams are important enough in the CFL that players can make careers out of it.

Winnipeg’s Mike Miller recognized that early in his career, when he went from undrafted college defensive back, to linebacker, to fullback, all while racking up enough special teams tackles to become the league’s all-time leader. He set the mark with a third-quarter tackle in Saturday’s loss to Toronto.

Miller isn’t a secret in Winnipeg, where his accomplishments are widely recognized. He joined the Bombers in 2017 after six seasons in Edmonton. As a linebacker, he has accumulated just six tackles on defence, his most recent one coming in 2014. 

With Winnipeg, he’s played fullback occasionally on offence, but has just one career carry for 10 yards, earning his keep on special teams with his consistent tackling ability. 

It seems fitting that an undrafted player who had to scratch and claw his way into the CFL by making it on special teams should be the one who sets a new benchmark of 192 tackles, two more than the previous standard set by former Lion Jason Arakgi.

Nick Volpe (1926-2021)

Nick Volpe was a special man, with a special place in the history of Canadian football and his beloved Toronto Argonauts.

Volpe, who played football with the University of Toronto in the 1940s, was an Argonaut from 1949 to ’52, part of two Grey Cup-winning teams, including kicking two field goals in the famous 1950 victory over Winnipeg known simply as ‘The Mud Bowl.’

After a long career in education, football and behind the scenes in broadcasting, Volpe worked in various roles for the Argonauts, beginning in the late 1980s. As the team went through its ups and downs, with various owners and management, Volpe was a consistent presence around the organization, where he concentrated on Canadian scouting.

Everyone around the team got to experience Volpe’s calm, measured presence and his place in history.

It was fitting that his passing last Saturday coincided with the Argos' return to BMO Field. It was a beautiful day and an Argo win that Volpe would have enjoyed as much as anyone.