SUNDAY CFL NOTEBOOK

GUELPH, ON — Former NFL receiver Martavis Bryant was among eight players placed on the CFL’s suspended list Saturday by the Toronto Argonauts.

Bryant, 29, signed with Toronto on Jan. 25. He was suspended multiple times during his NFL tenure but Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said Saturday’s decision was passport related.

“Martavis is having some passport issues,” Dinwiddie said during a video conference. “Hopefully he will get that figured out soon and come joins us for camp.”

The six-foot-four, 210-pound Bryant spent five seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2014-17) and Oakland Raiders (2018), registering 145 catches for 2,183 yards and 17 TDs in 44 career games. But the former Clemson star was also banned by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy.

NFL.com reported last July that multiple teams had expressed interest in Bryant but he hadn’t applied for reinstatement after receiving an indefinite suspension in 2018 while with Oakland.

Bryant was suspended for the 2016 season for multiple violations of the league’s substance abuse policy. He also received a four-game ban for violating the league’s rules in 2015.

Also suspended Saturday were four Americans (receivers Brandon Sheperd, Keyarris Garrett and Kendall Wright and defensive back James Sample) and three Canadians (linebackers Nelkas Kwemo, Nick Shortill and Robert Woodson). The club also announced American running back Bishop Sankey had retired.

Dinwiddie was hopeful that some of the Canadians could join the Argos at some point.

“I think those guys have other opportunities,” Dinwiddie said. “Two of the three I know at some stage we’ll probably have back … if they could join us at some point, great, the door is going to be open for all three of those guys if they choose to (come).”

Dinwiddie said veteran CFL coach Rich Stubler wasn’t with the team when it opened training camp Saturday because he was completing his quarantine. Stubler is expected to be on the field with the Argos early next week as a defensive assistant.

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HAMILTON – For Dane Evans, it was like going back in time to when he was a young boy anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.

CFL training camps finally opened Saturday and Evans, a quarterback with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, found it very difficult to sleep Friday night.

“I texted my wife (Friday night) and said, ‘I don’t want to sound cheesy but its like the night before Christmas,”’ Evans said following the Ticats’ workout Saturday morning. “Man, I couldn’t really sleep and got here super early because I still couldn’t sleep.

“A little bit of butterflies but they were good butterflies because we’re finally back out here. We’re finally putting the helmet on, throwing the ball around and doing what we love. It’s just a great feeling.”

The CFL didn’t play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league will kick off a 14-game campaign Aug. 5.

Evans and the Ticats have the distinction of having played in the last game the CFL staged. However, it was a 33-12 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2019 Grey Cup.

That loss tarnished a stellar ’19 season for Hamilton, which captured 15 regular-season wins – the most in the club’s history – and finished atop the East Division standings with a CFL-best 15-3 record. Evans played a role in leading the Ticats to the Grey Cup game, posting a 9-2 record under centre after starter Jeremiah Masoli suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Both Masoli and Evans will compete for starting duties this year at training camp.

But Evans wasn’t the only Ticats’ veteran happy to finally be back in pads.

“This is why God put me on Earth, to play football and I’m happy I’m doing it again,” said defensive lineman Dylan Wynn. “The feeling of putting on your pads ? the first day of the helmet not fitting correctly.

“It’s everything and it’s good to be home.”

But players and coaches will have to temper their enthusiasm to safeguard against the threat of injury, given their extended absence from the game. On Friday came word that six players – four from the Saskatchewan Roughriders, two with the Montreal Alouettes – had already suffered Achilles tendon injuries.

“I firmly believe we have the best organization as far as administration staff and we fully trust them,” Wynn said. “They’re taking care of us and we’re expected to take care of ourselves as professionals.

“It’s a two-way street. I love it here because my coaches aren’t my bosses, they’re my co-workers and as a whole group we know what our goals are. We know where we need to be.”

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GUELPH, ON — The COVID-19 pandemic may’ve cost Nick Arbuckle an entire football season but he feels it made him a better quarterback.

Like all other CFL teams, the Toronto Argonauts opened their training camp Saturday. The Argos workout in Guelph, Ont., marked Arbuckle’s first since 2019 when he was with the Calgary Stampeders.

The CFL didn’t play football in 2020 due to the global pandemic. It will open a 14-game campaign Aug. 5.

“I’ve been in a full-go off-season for a year and a half and so I’m just, I feel, that much more physically and mentally better as a quarterback than I would’ve been in 2020 if we had a season and training camp,” Arbuckle said during a video conference. “I’m athletically in the best shape of my life.

“I’ve been able to dunk a basketball for the first time in my life about two weeks ago and I’m stronger now at 207 pounds than I was at 225 pounds. I’m feeling mobile and I can throw all day without my arm getting tired, so from an athletic standpoint I’m a different quarterback ? than I was the last time I stepped on the field.”

That’s certainly good news for Toronto, which signed Arbuckle to a one-year deal in February. He became available upon being released by the Ottawa Redblacks when they signed veteran Matt Nichols shortly after he’d been let go by the Argos.

The six-foot-one, 207-pound Arbuckle impressed in 2019 when he won four-of-seven games he started in place of injured Calgary starter Bo Levi Mitchell. Arbuckle completed 174-of-238 passes (73.1 per cent) for 2,103 yards and 11 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He also ran for 76 yards and four TDs.

Calgary won the Grey Cup in 2018, Arbuckle’s first CFL season.

The 2019 performance prompted Ottawa to acquire Arbuckle’s rights and sign him to an extension. But the 27-year-old Californian never played with the Redblacks due to the pandemic.

There’s certainly the weight of expectation firmly upon Arbuckle’s shoulders given Toronto mustered consecutive four-win seasons (2018-19) after beating Calgary 27-24 in the ’17 Grey Cup. But there are plenty of familiar faces for Arbuckle with the Argos as receivers Juwan Brescacin, DaVaris Daniels and Eric Rogers are all former Stampeders and rookie head coach Ryan Dinwiddie previously served as the West Division club’s quarterbacks coach (2016-19).

John Murphy, Toronto’s vice-president of player personnel, also spent time in Calgary’s front office.

“(Familiarity) is huge and I think it’s going to be one of the big reasons why we’re going to be successful,” Arbuckle said. “We did carry some of the stuff over from Calgary but even the new stuff that (coach) Dinwiddie is creating as far as his own offence, it’s easy for me to pick up because he and I worked together in 2018-19.

“My familiarity with Eric, DaVaris, Bresc, all guys I played with before … we understand the offence. But we also understand each other’s families, we have that understanding, friendship and camaraderie with each other that makes it a pleasure to come to the locker room every day and dive into football.”

Rogers had 217 catches for 3,176 yards with 27 TDs over four seasons with Calgary before Toronto acquired his rights following the ’19 season. He commended Arbuckle’s work ethic.

“I think he got up at 4:30 a.m. (Saturday morning) and did a workout around 5 a.m. on the field by himself,” Rogers said. “He’s one of those guys who puts a lot of work in and you can tell how he’s prepared and understands the offence and what’s going.”

Arbuckle is one of five quarterbacks in camp. The others include veterans McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Antonio Pipkin, and rookies Kenji Bahar and Nick Tiano.

Pipkin began the ’19 season as Montreal’s starter before suffering an injury and relinquishing the No. 1 job to Vernon Adams Jr. Bethel-Thompson started 13 games for Toronto in 2019 and led the CFL in TD passes (26) while finishing third in passing yards (4,024).

(Canadian Press)