CFL has ‘no clarification’ on Chad Kelly’s return date; Tre Ford will start for Elks

TSN Football Insiders Dave Naylor and Farhan Lalji discuss the Elks’ decision to start quarterback Tre Ford, the CFL’s lack of clarification on Chad Kelly’s return and the league postponing Shawn Lemon’s arbitration hearing until Friday.

Naylor: This week, many Edmonton Elks fans got their wish. Interim head coach Jarious Jackson named Tre Ford the starting quarterback for Saturday night’s game at Saskatchewan in place of McLeod Bethel-Thompson after Ford came off the bench and threw three touchdown passes in their blowout loss to Hamilton on Sunday. What’s the Elks’ plan to manage the quarterback situation from here on out?

Say: Well, as far as what you’re going to see on the court, I believe they’re going to shorten the playbook a little bit and try to make Tre think less. But also take advantage of what he does best in terms of dynamic athleticism. Also, I don’t think there’s a timeline set for how long Tre Ford is going to be the starter for Edmonton. I think there’s an understanding that, look, he’s going to play this game from start to finish. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder if he has a couple of bad runs or a bad half. And I think there’s also an understanding that the next game is a home game. And to your point, the fans want to see this guy play. But then I think after those two games, it really comes down to how well Tre plays. As long as he continues to play well, I think they’re going to run with him. But if he struggles after a couple of games, there’s the option that they could go back to McLeod Bethel-Thompson. But there’s no definitive timeline at this point. I think the hope is that he just plays well and they can keep this up for the rest of the season.

Naylor: More quarterback talk… of course, Chad Kelly was suspended for a minimum of nine games at the beginning of the season. The Argos play their 10th game on August 22nd. Of course, there is a week off between now and then, so that would only be two weeks of practice left if Kelly returns by then, and there has been no clarification from the league or the Argos on this yet. Now, we understand that Kelly has completed the coursework and assignments that the league has asked him to do, and that he has been reevaluated. But there is a process that needs to be followed here, and the one thing we know for sure is that the Argos are not going to make that decision when Chad Kelly returns to practice, which would be within their rights at any point, without communication from the league. That the two are working closely together on this. They want to do this right. They understand the sensitive nature of this. And when the league and the Argos agree that he can return to practice, they will do so. But if he is back in time for that 10th game, we expect that to happen relatively quickly. But neither side wants to say when that will be.

Say: As for another player facing a suspension, Shawn Lemon of the Alouettes, his arbitration hearing has been postponed 24 hours until Friday at the request of the league. It is my understanding that Lemon’s team submitted a large number of statements from players and league staff, and that the league needed additional time to respond.