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His best player is gone for up to four weeks and his team again had its collective butt handed to it on a silver platter, but Argonauts head coach Don Matthews is not going to send up a white flag.
With five games to play in the regular season, it's probably more realistic to fly the flag at half-mast in Argoland for 2008.
Three games into Matthews' resurrection as a CFL coach, and there have been three large losses, the latest a 44-16 drubbing to the Calgary Stampeders last night at the Rogers Centre. The worst part? Dominique Dorsey, the Argos' top performer by a long shot, suffered injuries to his left ankle and knee when he was tackled late in the first quarter and did not return. If, in fact, Dorsey misses the next four games -- forget it.
Yet Matthews, who is trying to revamp the team with moves that usually are made in training camp, remains optimistic.
"I have not seen the doom and gloom that you all see," Matthews said. "I see what is happening is going to be good. We have a bunch of young guys. The defence is coming together really well. We have some changes on offence that have not jelled and we have to keep plugging away.
"We think we are going in the right direction."
Trouble is, the only direction the Argos have gone since Rich Stubler was fired on Sept. 9 is out of the playoff picture in the East Division. The Argos, at 4-9, are two points behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have shed a brutal start this season with three wins in a row to improve to 5-8. That puts the Bombers in second place in the East and the right to play host to a semifinal. Third place in the East won't cut it.
But Matthews is not sure whether the changes will bring about a positive effect before it's too late.
"I don't have a crystal ball," Matthews, 69, said. "I go out every week feeling good about the preparation and with the expectation to win. That's how I have spent 30 years in the Canadian Football League and I will continue to operate in that way."
Of Dorsey's loss, Matthews said: "It's part of football. We go back and put another guy in there and expect him to play well."
Cody Pickett didn't do much to inspire heaps of confidence in his second consecutive start over 2007 CFL most outstanding player Kerry Joseph. The Argos' only touchdown was a nine-yard run by Bryan Crawford, so it's two weeks and no touchdown passes from Pickett. The B.C. Lions are at the Rogers Centre on Friday, and they can start getting ready for whatever challenge Pickett might bring.
"I would say you will probably see Pickett again," Matthews said. "I thought he did a lot of things well."
Except get the Argos into the end zone, which is sort of the point in football. Pickett was good on 25 of 41 passes for 222 yards.
"My confidence is high," Pickett said. "We have to find a way to put a complete game together. We have to come faster, but we are making strides and we will get this thing turned around."
NO DISCIPLINE
The Argos fumbled three times en route to losing for the sixth time in seven games, and they were not disciplined. But the defence allowed just 384 yards, the first time in seven games the total has been under 400 yards.
"It's going to be tough, this might be the most trying time since I have been here," defensive end Jonathan Brown said. "Hopefully, we can get better. Hopefully."
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ARGOS REPLAY
NO DISCIPLINE
The Argos had a difficult time keeping a grip on their emotions as they were called for four unnecessary roughness penalties and one objectionable conduct penalty. The coaches were not happy about it, and after one call, linebacker Aaron Wagner was collared by defensive co-ordinator Kavis Reed and chewed out.
MISSING THE MARK
Dominique Dorsey entered last night with 2,817 all-purpose yards and was on pace to break the record for one season of 3,840 set in 1997 by Michael (Pinball) Clemons. Dorsey accumulated 75 yards before he was injured.
NICE TOUCH
After the first quarter, the Argos honoured team CEO Clemons for his recent induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, giving the former player and coach a framed collage of pictures from his days on the field. Clemons received a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd. Before the game, the Argos held a moment of silence for former executive Ralph Sazio, who died Thursday night.