Toronto Argonauts defence ready to lead the charge against Eskimos

The Toronto Argonauts will look to build off their first win of the season as they host the Edmonton Eskimos for their annual Exhibition game.

If you look at the Toronto Argonauts depth chart ahead of kickoff against the Edmonton Eskimos you probably noticed that Corey Chamblin continues to make adjustments.

With Cleyon Laing heading to the six-game injured list after suffering a leg injury against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Jhaustin Thomas will take his spot on the defensive line making his first CFL start. After Shawn Lemon was traded to the B.C. Lions rookie Robbie Smith and Freddie Bishop III will start at defensive end.

"“Like anything else, we have to tweak the roster, tweak some of the things we are doing,’’ said Chamblin about the new look depth chart.“We have to look at these guys in terms of how they play because some have ascended and making sure guys get more healthy.”"

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This is not something that is usually out of the ordinary when you consider the team is coming off the BYE week and players are coming back from the six-game injured list like Ian Wild, Trumaine Washington and Jermaine Gabriel.

For the players, they are eager to continue that winning feeling and what has motivated them is knowing they don’t have anything to lose.

"“We’ve made all the mistakes that we could possibly make we started off I mean as bad as you can possibly think,” said Alden Darby on how the team is staying prepared after getting that first win. “We have faced that adversity which a lot of teams haven’t faced. We know we got a lot of work to do but when we are all clocking like we know we can that’s where the real challenge comes for our opponent.”"

There were certainly opportunities for the Argos to get their first win at different points this season and it gave the players an appreciation for how hard it is but winning also reaffirms that what they’re doing is working.

For a player like Micah Awe, who is emerging as a star on defence, his mentality is to go out and prove himself every day by playing with an edge because in the CFL it’s not about how you start the season but how you finish.

"“It’s not easy, it took us six weeks to get our first win. You’re not going to go out there and be like, ‘we’re going to dominate this team’,” said Awe what he learned after their first win. “It’s professional football, the worst team in the league beat the best. So everyone’s on notice.”“We went through a lot of trials and tribulations, we got to know that the lessions have been learned and it’s time to go out there and execute.”"

When these teams last played each other, Edmonton handed Toronto their first shutout loss since 2009 which is surprising considering the highs and lows this team has gone through the past couple of seasons. The score doesn’t necessarily reflect how the defence played considering they gave the offence a chance but eventually they got worn down being on the field for 38:15.

Hopefully, the win over Winnipeg kickstarts something considering they are the best team in the league and the Argos came out swinging halfway through the second quarter.

Against Edmonton, they can’t afford to get off to another slow start but if they are able to focus and execute plays, they can definitely keep this close. If they can get the win, their chances of making things interesting in the East improve dramatically.

dark. Next. James Wilder Jr. eager to get back into game action

What do you think about the Argos chances against Edmonton? Can they pull out another win or will mistakes catch up to them? Let us know in the comments below.

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