Toronto Argonauts: Ricky Ray goes down with shoulder injury

Another tough outing for the Toronto Argonauts not only losing back to back games for the first time in 2017, but their captain Ricky Ray suffered a shoulder injury.

The Toronto Argonauts took a tough beating from the Calgary Stampeders as they lost 41-24 at BMO Field in front of 11,616.

However, midway through the third quarter, Argos quarterback Ricky Ray took a hard sack from Calgary defender Alex Singleton, and was forced out of the game with a shoulder injury.

The 37-years finished the game 15-for-26 with a touchdown and an interception. Most notably, Ray only threw for 139 yards, ending his consecutive game streak of 300 or more passing yards in a game.

Despite the injury, Ray hopes that this is only something minor and can continue to move forward from it.

“Just a little sore, took a shot on the arm [there], just aching a little bit” said Ray to reporters post game.

“We’re hoping it’s just a bruise. [It] doesn’t feel good right now but hopefully over the next couple of days it’ll feel better.”

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Argonauts head coach Marc Trestman feels that his quarterback is heading in the right direction in terms of handling the injury.

“I think he’s in a good place, we’ll wait and see [on Monday]. I can’t speak for him, or how he feels, but I think it’s just a wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.” said Trestman after the game.

Trestman also commented on the moment Ray realized he wasn’t going to continue with the rest of the game and the discomfort he felt.

“He was a non-starter at that point. He was sore and couldn’t complete the throwing motion. He wasn’t in a great amount of pain, but enough that it would inhibit his throwing.”

Backup quarterback Cody Fadjardo took over and was 6-for-11 for 75 yards and no passing touchdowns. He did however, lead the team in rushing with eight carries for 55 yards and a rushing touchdown to close out the game.

When speaking to media after the game, Fajardo was happy about getting some playing time but emphasized how important Ray is to the team.

“You remember why you love playing the game. You stand on the sidelines watching everybody make plays and you just want to get out there as a competitor” said the backup post game.

“I’m going to pray for Ricky, I hope he gets back and has a great year to finish off.”

Fajardo also spoke about how he looks up to Ray and getting advice from the starting quarterback in case he needs to start in the near future.

“I just need to lean on [Ricky] in this situation and if he happens to not play, God forbid, I just want him to help me out and guide me through this process because he has all the experience.”

Ray has had his fair share of injuries in the past. He suffered a previous shoulder injury in 2014, a sprained MCL injury in 2016 and a punctured lung in the same year.

When asked about having to go through another injury issue, Ray described it the best way he could.

“It sucks.”

However, the veteran quarterback remains to look on the brighter side of situations for the future.

“A lot of things are going through my head right now with the way things have been in the last few years. Anything I learned from those situations is you just got to be positive and got to wait and see what happens.”

Next: Argonauts: Butler recognized for dominant start

The Toronto Argonauts have a full week to prepare for their next game as they travel to take on the Montreal Alouettes on August 11th.