Ja'Gared Davis returns for Argonauts against Redblacks; Moore set to make debut

For the final time this regular season, the Toronto Argonauts will play against the Ottawa Redblacks and reinforcements are returning.

Ja’Gared Davis will be back on the field after missing close to a month with an injury to his meniscus. In nine games this season, Davis has 19 tackles and two sacks.

“We're going to dress more linemen than we normally do, and give them a good rotation and get them back to playing football,” “I think it’s going to add another element for us. But we've got to be careful and not give too much of a heavy load.”

The Argos defence has had some strong performances over the few weeks but getting Davis back and hopefully in good form for the playoffs will be crucial.

One player who figures to get some play along the defensive line and potentially in rotation with Davis is Damontre Moore. The longtime defensive lineman made the journey north of the border after spending the last 10 years in the NFL.

Moore said it was a no-brainer to join a team at the top of the standings and he’s been in a position where he’s joined a team late in a season when he played for the San Francisco 49ers. At that time, San Francisco went on a run to the Super Bowl so Moore is hoping that he can recreate that magic in Toronto.

Of course, the entire week of practice was all about getting himself up to speed with the nuances of the CFL. One adjustment he had to get used to was the neutral zone being one yard off the end of the football.

“What was the eye opener was when we were running stunts, typically, you might take a stunt one or two yards up the field and then you're right there on the tackle. While I was running from the inside and went up field and all of a sudden it was like hold on you got to take your stunt path at least one or two more steps deeper.”

Like Shane Ray, Moore has spent time in the Von Miller school of pass rush learning techniques that should help him make the jump to the CFL a bit smoother. Obviously, he won’t know until he gets on the field.

Whether he plays or not in Ottawa, Moore wants to help the team in any way he can, whether it’s being a part of the practice roster/scout team preparing the starters for a game or vice versa. When it comes to being in game shape, Moore feels he can step in and play right away because of what he experienced in the NFL.

“There's been multiple times where I haven't been in training camp or I was in training camp and got cut, and I didn't play until October or November coming straight off the couch,” Moore explained. “I've been fortunate enough to be in the league long enough to know how to prepare. When I'm in training camp mode, my cardio intake is a lot higher where I’m doing  two workouts a day, possibly even three some days to get that wind because nothing truly simulates football.”

Dejon Allen, Henoc Muamba good to go Ryan Hunter getting up to speed

Both Allen and Muamba were questionable to play against Ottawa because of injuries but they will give it a go. Dinwiddie is usually conservative when it comes to play injuries as he doesn’t want a short-term issue to turn into something worse so for both players to be able to play is a good sign.

This is an important game for Toronto as they will be looking to clinch a playoff berth following Hamilton’s loss to Montreal Friday. Of course, getting home-field advantage will also be an important goal for this group’s chances to reach the Grey Cup.

There was more good news on Friday as the Argos were able to sign Canadian offensive lineman Ryan Hunter. Toronto drafted North Bay, Ont., native in 2018 with the ninth overall pick but NFL opportunities kept him out of the CFL until now.

Dinwiddie said that Hunter will be travelling with the team to Ottawa and expect him to be dressed for their next game. This could be a big addition to get an NFL-quality offensive lineman that would also help with the Canadian ratio on offence.