Around the CFL: Argonauts finally return home after ‘extreme challenge’

After nearly three months with lengthy commutes to work, Adarius Pickett is very much looking forward to a more traditional setup for the rest of 2026.

The Toronto Argonauts’ veteran linebacker and his teammates practised and held training camp in Guelph, Ont. — 88 km from their usual Lamport Stadium practice site — and played seven consecutive games on the road to start the season while the World Cup took over BMO Field and their home locker room.

The Argos, to their credit, did stay afloat during the gruelling stretch. They sit second in the Montreal Alouettes-dominated East at 3-4 heading into Thursday’s long-awaited home opener against the Calgary Stampeders.

“It’s an extreme challenge,” Pickett said of the start of the 2026 campaign in a telephone interview this week. “Of course you’re not playing in front of your home crowd, but I think more than anything it’s just the travel. Travel to the games, travel from the games. We were returning back probably 4, 5, 6 o’clock in the morning every time.

“And then you’ve got to be ready for the next game the following week, having seven straight without any bye (after the Argos were off in Week 1 and in last week’s Week 9). Coming off a bye week now and going home, it’s been a blessing. Just to get your body back and hydration is different … Happy we’re actually sitting where we’re at with all the challenges that we’ve had to this point.”

It wasn’t only the 21,000 or so km of air travel to and from six games and 135 km on the bus to and from Hamilton — not to mention three games on the road where the Argos were the ‘home’ team — that affected Pickett and many of his teammates.

While some players stayed in Guelph during the prolonged stretch, others, like Pickett, lived in their usual homes in Toronto or the GTA. Pickett, who resides just west of Toronto in Mississauga, spent at least two hours in his car on the normally busy highway drive to and from Guelph each day.

“It definitely is challenging, especially after a long day, to hop back in the car and drive an hour and change,” Pickett said. “It’s what I chose to do, but at the end of the day it’s not what is to be expected in a normal situation. So definitely happy to be going back to BMO, where I’m probably about 17 minutes away from the facility.”

For a change, it’s the Argos with the schedule advantage this week. The Stamps beat the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton last Saturday and then stayed in southern Ontario for a short week before Thursday’s game in Toronto.

But the Stamps (4-4) are rolling, having won two in a row while scoring the most points in the CFL, including 30 or more in seven of eight games.

Stamps quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. has a ridiculous 21-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio, while running back Dedrick Mills is second in the league in rushing yards.

“(Adams) has been playing some exceptional football. Making some phenomenal plays and the receivers have been helping him out,” Pickett said. “They have a pretty decent running game, one of the top backs in the league. They’ve been playing as a collective and doing a real good job of protecting the football. Doing a good job of scheming teams and run their offence in a style that is keeping the ball out of harm’s way.”

The Argos, meanwhile, survived a scare last time out when star QB Chad Kelly suffered a neck injury and was replaced by Nick Arbuckle midway through a win against the B.C. Lions. Kelly returned to practice this week and is set to start Thursday.

“Some of those games have brought us closer together, through the wins and the losses,” Pickett said. “I think we’re just ready to move forward. Basically, we’re starting a whole new season. That’s kind of how we’re looking at it.”

Don’t count out the Lions

The Lions (2-5) might be last in the West, but could be poised to start stacking wins.

A key win in relief by QB Kaidon Salter last week in Winnipeg kept the Lions within striking distance of other teams in the West. Now, star QB Nathan Rourke appears ready to return from a shoulder injury Saturday in Vancouver against the struggling Tiger-Cats.

The 2025 CFL most outstanding player gives the Lions a huge edge on the Ticats, who have been miserable at QB the last three games with Bo Levi Mitchell out with a long-term ankle injury.

Will Redblacks respond to changes?

The Ottawa Redblacks have continued to be a disaster under first-year head coach/general manager Ryan Dinwiddie this season.

Off to an 0-7 start, the Redblacks have now lost 13 in a row dating back to last year, one short of the modern-era record for longest losing streak set by the Shreveport Pirates in 1995.

The former Argos head coach took action after last week’s loss to Montreal, firing defensive co-ordinator William Fields and replacing him with special teams co-ordinator Jeff Reinebold, and cutting marquee receiver Eugene Lewis.

Dinwiddie told reporters some changes he wanted to make defensively “fell upon deaf ears” and said the team threw Lewis “a go ball and he stopped on it” last week.

While Fields and Lewis certainly are open to criticism, so too is Dinwiddie. The team has struggled badly on short-yardage and red-zone offence, and some of that has to fall on Dinwiddie, also the offensive co-ordinator.

If the Redblacks don’t respond with an improved effort Friday in Saskatchewan in the opener of a three-game road swing, Dinwiddie figures to face plenty of criticism.

Calgary Stampeders (4-4) at Toronto Argonauts (3-4), Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. MT

The Stamps crushed the visiting Argos 58-36 in Week 5.

Ottawa Redblacks (0-7) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-2), Friday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CST

Strangely, the Roughriders are 2-2 at home and 3-0 on the road this season.

Edmonton Elks (6-2) at Montreal Alouettes (7-1), Saturday, 3 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. MT

Second meeting of the year between the two division leaders. The Elks handed the Alouettes their lone loss, 32-29, in overtime in Week 3 in Edmonton. The game features all three of July’s CFL players of the month — Als QB Davis Alexander and running back Travis Theis and Elks QB Cody Fajardo.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-5) at B.C. Lions (2-5), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT

The Ticats beat the visiting Lions 41-27 in Week 3, but that was with Mitchell throwing for five touchdowns on just 18 passes. The Ticats replaced Tre Ford with Harrison Frost last week in a loss to Calgary. If Frost starts Saturday, he’ll be the fourth QB to start for the Ticats this season.