Argos leaning toward leaving Chad Kelly on injured list for entire season
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
TORONTO – The odds are good that Chad Kelly won’t play a down this season for the Toronto Argonauts.
The CFL’s outstanding player in 2023 has spent the entire season on the injured list recovering from the serious leg injury he suffered in last year’s East Division final. Veteran Nick Arbuckle will start Saturday when Toronto (5-10) hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (9-6) with its playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
Hamilton can eliminate the defending Grey Cup champions from playoff contention with a victory. The contest is Toronto’s final this season at BMO Field, while the Ticats will play their last regular-season road game.
Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie has kept the door open to Kelly’s return all season. He did so again Friday, but added the club is leaning toward leaving the veteran quarterback on the six-game injured list for the remainder of the campaign.
“I think that’s kind of the writing on the wall,” Dinwiddie said. “We haven’t really made a definite decision on that, but that’s kind of where we’re leaning.
“We’ll see. You never know, but I think that’s probably the safest bet, and that’s kind of where we’re at.”
The expectation is that will happen should Hamilton win Saturday. With no playoff games to look ahead to, there’d be no viable reason for the Argos to play Kelly and risk him either aggravating the leg ailment or suffering a different injury.
The six-foot-one, 216-pound Kelly suffered a fractured right tibia and fibula in Toronto’s 30-28 East Division final win over Montreal last year. Arbuckle replaced Kelly in the conference final, then led the Argos to their 41-24 Grey Cup win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last November.
Arbuckle was named the game MVP after passing for 252 yards and two TDs with two interceptions. On Saturday, Arbuckle will make his 15th start this season for Toronto.
Jarret Doege made the other start for Toronto while Arbuckle was out with a calf injury.
Arbuckle has performed admirably this season, standing second in CFL passing (4,370 yards, just 36 behind leader Bo Levi Mitchell of Hamilton). Arbuckle also has 26 TDs — two behind Mitchell — and completed 72.6 per cent of his passes (365 of 503 attempts) despite having been sacked a league-high 38 times.
Kelly is in his fourth season with Toronto. The native of Buffalo, N.Y. — who’s also the nephew of former Buffalo Bills star quarterback Jim Kelly — has completed 471 of 697 passes (67.6 per cent) for 6,871 yards in 45 career CFL regular-season games with 35 TDs and 23 interceptions.
He has been part of two Grey Cup-winning Argos teams (2022, ’24).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2025.