THE CANADIAN PRESS

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- They have the CFL's worst record, are near the bottom in most of the league's offensive categories and come off a disappointing loss to an equally inept opponent.

But the Toronto Argonauts are standing pat with their head coach and starting quarterback heading into a showdown Saturday with the league-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) at Rogers Centre.

Cody Pickett was back taking reps with the starting offence Tuesday when Toronto (3-9) resumed practising for the first time since its disappointing 29-24 road loss to Winnipeg (4-8) on Saturday. And first-year head coach Bart Andrus was emphatic that Pickett remains the starter despite backup Kerry Joseph coming off the bench in the second half and energizing the offence against the Blue Bombers.

Andrus said part of the reason Pickett came out of Saturday's game was he suffered an injury to his right arm. But Pickett threw well Tuesday, showing no visible signs of discomfort.

"Cody is our starter, he's our guy," Andrus said. "As long as he's healthy, he'll be the guy.

"If we feel we need a change to maybe spice things up a little bit or get us moving we may do that. But right now I have no intention of him not playing the whole game."

The loss to Winnipeg - whose outspoken head coach Mike Kelly has many Manitoba football fans wanting his head - leaves Toronto last in the East Division and needing a minor miracle to qualify for post-season play. But on Tuesday, Argos GM Adam Rita gave Andrus a vote of confidence while admitting Andrus's adjustment to Canadian football - he was hired with no previous CFL coaching experience - has been slower than anticipated.

"Well, I think when you (look) at the wins we have I would have to say I agree," Rita said. "But at the end of the day these guys are still playing hard.

"There's always going to be complaints when you're losing and you have to accept those things and keep working. I know one thing, as an ex-coach you work harder in these situations that when you win because you're trying to find a way to help the guys.

"You just have to hang in there. I think he's going in a good direction."

Toronto's offence struggled to muster any consistency against Winnipeg under Pickett, who finished 13-of-22 passing for a paltry 98 yards before being replaced in the third with the Bombers leading 29-9. Joseph, the CFL's outstanding player in 2007, came in and completed 11-of-21 passes for 123 yards and ran six times for 17 yards, including a three-yard TD that pulled the Argos to within 29-24.

Joseph did throw two interceptions but his mobility allowed him to escape pressure and extend plays, in stark contrast to Pickett, who is more of a drop-back passer.

Toronto's offence has been one of the CFL's worst this season, ranked last in sacks allowed (43) and seventh in points scored (19.6 per game) and total yards (294.3).

That doesn't bode well heading into a game against a Montreal defence that's tops in 21 of 25 league categories, including sacks (tied with B.C. with 34), fewest yards allowed (280.1 per game), yards passing (231.1), yards rushing (77.3) and points allowed (16.3 per game).

"They'll man you up, get up in your face and play strong defence," Pickett said of the Alouettes. "We've got to do the best we can to stay on the field as long as possible to help out our defence.

"It's a big challenge for us."

A season-long challenge for Toronto has been on-field discipline. The Argos have been penalized 150 times for 1,307 yards - both CFL highs - and had two players ejected following a brawl in Winnipeg. The undisciplined play is surprising given Andrus's reputation of being a no-nonsense coach.

The bottom line is the Argos aren't good enough to overcome penalties and mistakes as they're ranked last overall in giveaway-takeaway at minus-14 - meaning they've committed 14 more turnovers than forced.

"The thing that's disappointing is we don't make great decisions during games," Andrus said. "I'm speaking in terms of penalties that are controllable.

"It's something we talk about and hopefully we can get that solved. It just takes some time to change that game-day culture. It's something we work on on a daily basis."

Added Pickett: "When you're struggling that's the biggest thing you have to do; take care of penalties and the football.

"Until we do that, it's going to be rough. Hopefully this week we'll get that fixed, we'll limit the penalties and turnovers and have a chance."