If the Double Blue are to seize the moment, it will mean overcoming their recent struggles on the road against the Ti-Cats. Toronto is 1-7 in their last eight regular season visits to Hamilton, including 0-2 at Tim Hortons Field. Of course, Scott Milanovich and the Argonauts will not accept any excuses, despite the task in front of them. Moments like this are when the best players rise to the occasion, no matter what the circumstances. Along those lines, Toronto today welcomes back one of their very best player’s, with the return of
Chad Owens. The four-time CFL All Star has missed the last four games with an ankle injury.
However,
as Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun reported, Owens has practiced every day in the lead-up to Monday’s game. In many respects, he has looked as good as you can expect, for someone who is returning from injury.
Ironically, his last action was in the previous matchup with the Tiger-Cats, when he had arguably his worst outing of the year. Owens finished the game with just three receptions (for just 21 yards), including none in the second half of the 34-18 loss. Around the same time as his injury, there were claims the 2012 CFL Most Outstanding Player was already having a below-par campaign. One theory claimed he had no chemistry with his new quarterback,
Trevor Harris, resulting in just 26 receptions, 288 receiving yards and one touchdown catch.However, this theory doesn’t hold up, considering that stat line comes from just five games, including the final one, when Owens injured his ankle. In fact, if you prorate those figures over an 18-game campaign, it reads as 94 catches, 1,037 yards and 4 touchdown receptions.
Suddenly, the claim that the 33-year old has no synergy with Harris, looks absurd. The 94 receptions would equal his career-high, and the receiving yardage would actually be the second-best of his CFL career. In any event, head coach Milanovich is looking to get Owens heavily involved in the game against the Ti-Cats,
as he told Zicarelli and the rest of the media: “He’ll be the No. 1 (option) plenty of times.”
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