Toronto Argonauts Cory Boyd gets set to throw a pass at a team practice in Winnipeg, Thursday, July 7, 2011. The Argos face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in CFL action on Friday.Joe Bryksa
Cory Boyd calls his recent knee injury a 'gift' and believes he should have to win back the Toronto Argonauts starting tailback job from Chad Kackert.
Working back from a knee injury that has sidelined him for three games already, easing back into practice for the first time this week, Boyd knows Kackert, the rookie backup, has turned many heads.
"Chad's a beast. I knew from the first time he stepped out here, he has a motor, and he reminds me of what I was last year, and what I need to get back to," Boyd said after this second practice Tuesday.
"He has pushed me, and I'm hoping I've pushed him. I don't consider myself just coming back and taking the spot back. I want to work for it. When I come back, if he's still there and coach still has that confidence in him, I have no problem being a team player and letting God finish off what he started."
Boyd, a CFL All-Star and the go-to threat in the Argos' offence last year, has been sharing reps with Kackert in practice this week, taking a few less Tuesday than he did Monday. Head coach Jim Barker said Boyd's status for Thursday's game versus the Montreal Alouettes is uncertain, and that Week 7 might be the target.
Boyd, who turns 26 this week, is very spiritual and refers to the strained MCL in Week 2 as a "gift," despite the fact that he seemed to be on course for a big season after rumbling for 100 yards and a touchdown in the season opener.
"My team needed to win without me and become greater and take the centre of attention away from me and put it on the Argos," Boyd said, who says he dove into his bible study even more while injured.
"I know when I came back, I would just be an addition, it won't be a one-man thing. God has me here to be a leader in other ways too."
Kackert is the first Argo to win a weekly award this season. He was named Gibson's finest CFL offensive player of the week for his performance on Friday in the loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.
Kackert, starting just his third CFL game rushed for 139 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns on runs of eight and 11 yards. The rookie also fumbled in the game, something that has plagued the 24-year-old player this season. He has four touchdowns so far, but he also has three fumbles.
"I'm addressing it in practice, guys are helping me out," Kackert said. "It's frustrating, because I've never had an issue with it, and I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is."
Quarterback Cleo Lemon has an entirely different opinion on playing with a mouth guard after having his tooth split and the nerve damaged in a Week 4 hit from linebacker Joe Lobendahn of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
"It will be a little different because I've never played with one, but now, I would never leave home without it," Lemon said, who also still prefers wearing an older model of helmet rather than the newer Riddell Revolution Speed helmet worn by the majority of CFL players.
It wasn't the first time in his football career that Lemon had his helmet pop off, but getting hit with no helmet was new, scary, and something he'll never forget. Nor will he forget the three dental surgeries needed to repair the damage.
"At the time, I was thinking about the tightness and the pressure in my mouth. I kept asking the doctor 'is this ever going to go away?' because it was just so much pain. He said 'yeah trust me, rest, and it will take care of itself.' Over time, it did just as he said."
Lemon is expected to return to his starting job for the 1-4 Argos on Thursday after backup Dalton Bell started in his place last week.