Argos peg Mathews to start under centre Friday vs. Als

TORONTO — With Ricky Ray on the shelf, it appears the Toronto Argonauts will turn to Jeff Mathews Friday night when he commands the offence for his first start in double blue.

Mathews was listed atop the Argos’ depth chart at quarterback on Thursday. On Friday, the Argos kick off the first of back-to-back contests with the Montreal Alouettes.

Mathews has dressed as a backup in three games this season but has yet to see game action since joining Toronto as a free agent in the off-season.

The Argos’ depth chart can be seen below:

Friday marks Mathews’ sixth career start after earning five nods in 2015 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a rookie. He went 2-3 during that stretch and his first win came against the Alouettes. who still operate under Noel Thorpe’s defensive scheme.

The Cornell grad takes over an offence that avoided a scare last week when Ray left the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.  Ray is listed as day-to-day but it is not yet known whether he will be back in time for the second of the two-game set with the Alouettes.