{"id":133190,"date":"2025-09-10T07:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133190\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T07:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:14:11","slug":"arbuckle-to-start-for-argos-against-elks-with-kelly-activated-from-injured-list-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133190\/","title":{"rendered":"Arbuckle to start for Argos against Elks with Kelly activated from injured list \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 Nick Arbuckle remains the Toronto Argonauts\u2019 starting quarterback \u2014 at least for now.<\/p>\n

Arbuckle will make a 13th straight start Saturday afternoon when Toronto (4-8) hosts the Edmonton Elks (5-7). The Argos activated quarterback Chad Kelly from the six-game injured list Tuesday, but head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said no decision has been made regarding whether Kelly will dress this weekend.<\/p>\n

Kelly practised Tuesday as Toronto returned following a bye week, with Arbuckle getting the starting reps. But Dinwiddie was very clear that once Kelly is healthy, he\u2019ll become Toronto\u2019s starter.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Toronto
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tToronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly (12) is tended to by medical staff after being injured during third-quarter CFL Eastern Conference Final football action against the Montreal Alouettes Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christinne Muschi<\/p>\n

\u201cI think maybe it\u2019s going to be a week-to-week deal, I mean, Chad is our franchise quarterback, let\u2019s not lose sight of that,\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cThe ball was live coming out of his hands (Tuesday), we just want to see him move a little bit cleaner \u2026 just be able to move around in the pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of his strengths, being able to create plays with his legs and I want to make sure he can do that while also at the same time be able to protect himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly hasn\u2019t played since suffering a fractured right tibia and fibula in Toronto\u2019s 30-28 East Division final win over Montreal last year. Kelly, the CFL\u2019s outstanding player in 2023, opened the \u201925 season on the one-game injured list but went on the six-game list in late July, where he remained until Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Last week, Kelly teased that he could be returning to face Edmonton. The 31-year-old posted a social media video of himself in full uniform at BMO Field. The words, \u2018The Comeback,\u2019 appeared on the screen with the date of Sept. 13, 2025 below, the day Toronto hosts the Elks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s excited that physically he\u2019s getting closer,\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cI think that was one thing for him to let everyone know he\u2019s kind of getting closer and is excited to get on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly wasn\u2019t available for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Arbuckle has performed well this season. The 31-year-old leads the CFL in passing (3,828 yards) and 30-yard completions (24) and stands second in TD passes (23) despite being sacked a league-high 32 times.<\/p>\n

Arbuckle has also completed 316 of 434 passes (72.8 per cent, third-best in CFL) with 10 interceptions. Over his last six starts, he has completed 166 of 224 passes (74.1 per cent) for 2,137 yards with 14 TDs and two interceptions \u2014 but none in his last three contests. Toronto is 3-3 over that stretch, including two straight wins.<\/p>\n

Arbuckle has been stellar in those victories.<\/p>\n

He rallied Toronto to a stunning 35-33 Labour Day win over Hamilton on Sept. 1. His 62-yard completion to Dejon Brissett set up Lirim Hajrullahu\u2019s game-winning 11-yard field goal after the Ticats scored a TD with 18 seconds remaining to move ahead 33-32.<\/p>\n

In Toronto\u2019s 52-34 home win over the B.C. Lions on Aug. 23, Arbuckle threw for a career-high 443 yards and three TDs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNick is playing good football, that\u2019s the reason we had him come back after last year (on a one-year contract),\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cWe\u2019ve kind of hit our stride offensively, but Chad is our franchise guy and a special type of player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last November, when Kelly was hurt, Arbuckle led Toronto to its 41-24 Grey Cup win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was named the game MVP after passing for 252 yards and two TDs with two interceptions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

Arbuckle said he hasn\u2019t spoken yet to Dinwiddie about returning to a backup role, but suggested he\u2019s been kind of expecting it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that I knew was probably inevitable when the season started,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody kind of knew the timeline for Chad\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always taken the approach throughout my career that whatever role I was going to have on the team given that week or that season, I was just going to do everything within that role to help our team win. If that happens, I\u2019ll do everything I can to continue to help Chad, help the receivers and do anything I can to continue moving us in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto is currently tied with Ottawa (4-8) for third in the East Division. Hamilton (7-5) holds top spot while Montreal (5-7) sits two points ahead of both the Argos and Redblacks.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 Nick Arbuckle remains the Toronto Argonauts\u2019 starting quarterback \u2014 at least for now. Arbuckle will make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-133190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}