June 16, 2024; Hamilton, Ontario, CAN; Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-30 at Tim Hortons Field. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski
Argos one year, Ticats the next.
For six players, the “next” year happens to be this one.
A mere eight months after they were all wearing double blue, the wardrobe is all black and gold for those half-dozen Tiger-Cats who will line up against the Toronto Argonauts Saturday night at Tim Hortons Field.
All of them are on defence, and four of them—Benoit Marion, Brandon Barlow, DeWayne Hendrix and Deionte Knight—play defensive line. They were joined by linebacker Trevor Hoyte and shutdown cornerback Jamal Peters in the off-season exodus from Toronto’s west side to Hamilton’s east side.
“It’s a little personal,” Peters conceded during a post-practice interview today. “But I can’t make the game bigger than it is. The three years I had there were good but I’m focused on here now. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve had this one circled since the off-season.
“We wouldn’t have imagined it. Me, Hendrix and Barlow came and then we get Hoyte, Benoit and then we get Knight and it was, ‘Dang, we were just on that team and now we’re on this team.
“We know what we have to do. We have a chip on our shoulder for sure. We’ve all been looking forward to this game. We’re just going to play our game but with a little extra motivation.”
The Ticats already have the motivation of a so-far winless season and the searing desire not to slip a full four games back of the 3-2 Argonauts in the CFL East standings. Add the frying pan of the Argos making their first regular season visit of 2024, and the 24 months (plus a week) since the Ticats last beat their historical rivals in any location, and you’ve got a mid-July steam cooker.
Peters injured his hamstring during training camp and didn’t see game action until the regular season’s second week, but he was not yet completely healthy. Now he’s fully fit and he has the only Ticat interception this year. He plays the kind of game that head coach Scott Milanovich would like to see spread across the entire secondary, which has spent much of the season playing too tentatively.
“He was having an elite training camp,” Milanovich said of Peters, who was a 2022 CFL All-star with the Argos and picked off 10 passes over the past two seasons. “We could hardly throw a ball his way in training camp, before he got injured. Then he wanted to be back out there and I have a healthy respect for that. I’ve been seeing him grow even more and more—not that he ever lacked confidence–but confidence in his body, his leg and his hamstring. I think we’re about to see him take off.”
Peters agrees “I’m up to speed. When you get hurt, it’s tough to be out for so long and be away from the game. I’m finally getting my rhythm back. When I first came back from being injured, I was hesitant somewhat. Now I’m finally healthy, healed. Now I’m getting back comfortable with certain techniques I use. I just have to carry it over to the game.”
Peters, who played his college ball at Mississippi State, spent a little time with the NFL Falcons before joining the Argos in 2021 and played his first pro game in August that year, making a huge impact with nine tackles and an interception against the eventual Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He had a monster year in 2022 with six picks and a sack in just 15 games and became known for his combative coverage and his ability to read plays, which allowed him to jump routes. He says the Ticats told him during off-season free agency discussions that they wanted him to provide tight coverage, and he was glad to oblige.
He’ll also pass on his learned-by-doing-it knowledge to the other defensive backs.
“I try to tell them, ‘Know this is coming if they have an inside split, know this is coming if they have a wide split.’ If I see something I’ll tell them, ‘Look for this is coming.’
“Just dominate your opponent. Whoever is in front of you, have that killer mindset that that person is not going to catch the ball. I believe in all the guys in the room, and we all have the ability to have tight coverage and have the killer instinct to take away what they want to do. I believe in them.”
That is very similar to what Milanovich wants to see from the entire rearguard squad, which needs to be much more proactive.
“I’m looking for them to challenge receivers, trust our defensive line to get home, trust our linebackers to get on when we blitz and get up on them and be physical,” he said. “Trust what your eyes see; if you think you know the play that’s coming, let’s take our shot and get our hands on some balls, make some picks and score some points.”
