July 24, 2017

Green, Ellingson matchup one to watch

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

TORONTO — They’re among the CFL’s leading receivers and the last time they met, Greg Ellingson and S.J. Green combined for a spectacular 380 yards.

So when the Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa REDBLACKS meet for the second time this season in a rare Monday night clash at BMO Field, is it unreasonable to expect more of the same?

Ask any defensive back suiting up Monday night and the answer is probably ‘yes’.

Or, in the words of REDBLACKS halfback Jerrell Gavins, ‘that ain’t happening again’.

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Ellingson is averaging a league best 117 yards per game heading into Monday’s matchup with the Argos (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)

“We’ve got to compete better, we’ve got to make plays,” said Gavins, who’s moved back to the secondary after playing an instrumental role as the team’s starting SAM linebacker a season ago. “[Argos quarterback Ricky Ray] threw a lot of 50-50 balls that should have been contested. Some of those balls he threw to S.J. — 210 yards, that can’t happen again.

“I’ll be straight blunt with it, that ain’t happening again.”

Green’s re-emergence has been incredible to watch. The 32-year-old suffered what appeared might be a career-ending injury in the summer of 2016 when he injured major ligaments in his knee including the MCL, PCL, ACL and meniscus.

After 10 seasons in Montreal, the Alouettes traded Green to the Argos in the spring for a sixth round pick. The veteran has responded with 452 receiving yards (a career-high 18.8 yards per catch) and already a handful of his patented highlight-reel, seemingly impossible grabs.

His 210 receiving yards on 10 catches in Week 3 were a career-high, while Green also scored a touchdown in helping the Argos capture a 26-25 win on the road over Ottawa.


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Suffice to say, Green won’t be flying under anyone’s radar on Monday night.

“We’ve just got to be a lot more focused and pay attention to detail with our eyes and where we need to be at and our responsibilities,” said Gavins. “But on the back end we’ve got to play a way better game.

“Sometimes the game, a lot of times the game comes down to the defence and the last line of defence, which is the secondary, so we’ve got to do our part.”

Only Greg Ellingson has been more productive than Green. And on Monday night, the two dynamic pass-catchers will go head to head.

Ellingson leads the CFL with 584 receiving yards, eclipsing the 130-yard mark on three separate occasions.

Like Green, Ellingson’s best performance of 2017 was in that Week 3 head to head, in which the Ottawa pass-catcher hauled in 10 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.

– With files from OttawaREDBLACKS.com

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