Toronto Argonauts: Duron Carter ready to learn under Marc Trestman

With Duron Carter joining the Toronto Argonauts, there will be a lot of eyes on his progress both on and off the field as he looks to establish himself with his toughest challenge to date.

Marc Trestman made one thing clear to Duron Carter before he signed with the Toronto Argonauts, is that this will be the hardest challenge of his career and he’s excited about it.

On Sunday, the Argos announced that they had come to terms with the 27-year-old receiver two weeks after he was cut by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The signing comes with a lot of attention, because of the type of player he is and with this being his third CFL team.

Whatever happened is in the past and Bear Woods put it in the best way, when he addressed the addition of Carter.

"“I told him straight up that we work here, everybody puts in work here and it shows that we all love the game of football, you don’t come up here and last up here if you don’t love the game of football and respect this league,” said Woods. “I told him that I’m excited for Duron Carter the person to be able to experience this culture that Marc Trestman has established.”"

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You can tell that players are excited to have Carter with the team especially S.J. Green, who was a teammate in Montreal and was spotted walking around with him at BMO Field.

The Argos are a team with many types of personalities, but never let one be the story when things go bad. Whether that can be the case with Carter remains to be seen, but there are enough leaders in this locker room who will keep him on the straight and narrow path.

Toronto won’t be practicing until Wednesday after Monday’s practice was cancelled, but don’t expect Carter to be thrown into the fire right away.

"“The first thing he told me is that you’re not going to play right away and I’m 100 per cent OK with that,” said Carter on when he expects to play. “For me it’s about getting comfortable and when I am comfortable that’s where I can help the team the most.”"

It will take time for Carter to learn the playbook and get familiar with the quarterbacks, but it would be beneficial to get him in one of the games between Toronto and Hamilton since they will have an impact on the East division.

There have been questions of whether Trestman and Carter can coexist, but it seems like he has an appreciation after going through his first set of meetings.

"“He knows his football and that’s one thing I appreciate a lot, having his tenure with being a coach with the many receivers he’s work with like my dad in the NFL,” Carter said about his first impressions on Trestman.“He’s definitely a person who helped my dad get in order when he was in a transition time between the Eagles and the Vikings. Coach Trestman is a straight forward guy, he tells you exactly how he feels but he also tells you ways to get better. He’s been telling me throughout this free agent process is getting better as a leader and a man because that’s his goal, not just to win Grey Cups but to make better men.”"

It is hard to argue with that, given the number of players who found success with the Argos last season. This includes DeVier Posey, who could make the Baltimore Ravens out of training camp.

The Toronto Argonauts have their work cut out for them and they’ll have to do it without Cassius Vaughn, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury.