Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly was back taking snaps at Argonauts practice Sunday after being reinstated by the CFL, with conditions.
The league announced earlier Sunday that Kelly, the CFL’s most outstanding player last year, was clear to return from a suspension issued on May 7 — which included Toronto’s two exhibition games and at least the first nine regular-season contests — for violating its gender-based violence policy.
“The Canadian Football League (CFL) has reinstated Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly on a last-chance agreement provided that he continues to meet a number of ongoing conditions,” the league said in a statement.
“The ongoing mandatory conditions surrounding Mr. Kelly’s reinstatement reflect the need for him to demonstrate a continued commitment to upholding league standards.”
The CFL said the conditions are confidential and won’t be disclosed.
The CFL’s suspension followed an independent investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against Kelly for sexual harassment and the Argos for wrongful dismissal. The lawsuit was settled in June through mediation involving all of the parties.
“This is an important step for Chad, who has taken full accountability for his actions and represents just the beginning of his ongoing commitment to bettering himself and learning from this experience,” Argos general manager Mike (Pinball) Clemons said Sunday. “There continues to be much work to do to strengthen our team culture and we are all committed with Chad’s return, to work on this together, as a team.”
Under terms of the suspension, Kelly had to undergo confidential assessments by an independent expert and attend mandatory counselling sessions conducted by a gender-based violence expert. Both the counselling sessions and assessments had to be satisfactorily completed before the CFL would consider Kelly’s reinstatement and the league reserved the right to modify his discipline.
Last weekend, the CFL announced it had received Kelly’s confidential psychological assessment and would complete an examination of the results with the help of experts before making a decision on Kelly’s reinstatement.
Kelly then participated in an in-person discussion with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie.
Toronto’s 39-25 home win over Calgary on Aug. 9 was its ninth regular-season game. The Argos returned to the practice field following a bye week.
Kelly, 30, hasn’t played with Toronto since its loss to Montreal in last year’s East Division final. He remained away from the team during his suspension and didn’t speak to media Sunday.
“I am sorry for my actions and the impact it has had on many people personally, the Toronto Argonauts and the CFL,” Kelly said in a statement issued by the Argos. “I recognize that this is just one step in the process of bettering myself, but it is an important one, and I am committed to doing what is needed to be a better teammate, colleague and person.
“With that commitment in mind, I have accepted the League’s conditions of reinstatement, including its ‘Last Chance Agreement’.”
Kelly took roughly 70 per cent of the starting offence snaps in Sunday’s practice, and head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said he plans to increase Kelly’s workload Monday as Toronto (5-4) hosts the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4-1) on Thursday night.
“I’m hoping I get a clear indication of what I want to do (Monday),” Dinwiddie said following the workout at the Ontario Soccer Centre. “It will be a heavy workload day, Day 2 is always our heavier day however it’s going to be a little bit heavier.
“But it was good to have him back. His teammates were excited to see him back in the building.”
Sunday’s session was a walk-through in helmets and shorts. But Kelly still showed very good velocity on his passes and the ability to thread the needle in tight quarters.
Dinwiddie said it might be asking a lot for Kelly to start Thursday with limited practices and no training camp. He left the door open to Kelly splitting reps with Toronto’s other two quarterbacks, Cameron Dukes and veteran Nick Arbuckle.
“We felt it was important to give Chad the bulk of it, the other guys have had a lot of reps and he has to get caught up to speed,” Dinwiddie said. ” We also understand Chad isn’t going to be perfect on game day but we’ve also got to be ready to make a move and go with the other guys that have been playing.
“It might be by committee, it might not be (Kelly) the full game.”
Kelly won 15-of-16 starts last season with Toronto, the 93.8 win percentage being the best ever by a player with at least 14 starts. He completed 270-of 394 passes (68.5 per cent) for 4,123 yards with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while rushing for 248 yards and eight TDs — tied for second-most in the CFL — to earn league all-star honours.
He led Toronto to a league-best and franchise-record 16-2 record. But the Argos’ season ended with a 38-17 home loss to eventual Grey Cup-champion Montreal in the East final.
With Kelly suspended, Dukes and Arbuckle have handled snaps this season. Dukes started eight of the club’s nine regular-season games, posting a 4-4 record while Arbuckle won his only start.
And while Dukes sports a solid 72.1 completion percentage, he has thrown for just 1,398 yards with almost as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (seven). Arbuckle has completed 42-of-68 passes (61.8 per cent) for 421 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
As a whole, Toronto’s offence has been inconsistent. It entered this week’s action seventh in offensive points scored (23.7 per game) and last in net offence (309.7), passing (210.9 yards per game), offensive penalties (37) and sacks allowed (23).
A bright spot, though, has been a CFL-best rushing attack (123.9 yards per game).
