Saturday was the final day of prep for the Toronto Argonauts prior to the 111th Grey Cup Sunday in Vancouver.
Here’s what stood out as the East Division champions held their final walkthrough of the 2024 season at BC Place.
111th GREY CUP
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(Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
ONE HECK OF A BUZZ
CFL.ca colleague Chris O’Leary made note of something that was very evident as we were standing at field level: there was a palpable atmosphere of excitement, especially for a walkthrough.
Multiple players had their kids running around the field. Receiver DaVaris Daniels, for instance, had one of his kids on his shoulders for most of the morning. And the field was loud. The receivers and defensive backs were together as a group and accounted for most of the noise.
They’ve got a huge game still to play, but you can tell the Argos are making sure they’re taking in all of what goes along with Grey Cup week.
ENERGIZER BUNNY AWARD
Walkthroughs are a typically subdued affair with players rarely breaking into a jog. But All-CFL defensive tackle Jake Ceresna must not have gotten the memo. Ceresna was a ball of energy as he had some fun with his fellow linemen and definitely advanced beyond a jog multiple times.
(Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
PICTURE PERFECT
In Toronto’s last official team activity prior to the final game of the season, a number of position groups were taking group pictures on the field. And just before the players broke off to take care of media obligations, the Argos came together as a whole for a team picture right at the 55-yard line. It was a cool moment that underlined how special getting to a Grey Cup is for so many.
DINWIDDIE EMPHASIZES PERSPECTIVE
Ryan Dinwiddie in his final media availability prior to Sunday’s game when asked about the stakes of playing for a championship:
“Don’t make it bigger than it is. It’s just another football game. I think sometimes when you look at the magnitude of the game, you play a little bit tighter. We’ve been playing our whole careers, you know, we’re prepared.
“Now we’re going to have some ups and downs throughout the course of the game. We’ve got to stick together. We’re not going to be perfect. We’re all going to make mistakes, we just can’t make those critical mistakes, you know. When you start overthinking things, that’s normally when they come about.
“We’ve told them just to trust their process. They know what they’re doing. Trust your decision making, go make a play.”