Chad Kelly injured as Argonauts' season ends with semifinal loss
The quarterback left Saturday's defeat to Winnipeg with an upper-body injury and said he could not control the ball.
TORONTO · Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly suffered an apparent upper-body injury during the team's 25-22 East semifinal loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday. He was replaced by backup Nick Arbuckle in the fourth quarter after taking several hits, including a strip-sack that resulted in a Winnipeg touchdown. Head coach Mike Miller said Sunday he had no recovery timeline for Kelly. The 32-year-old quarterback signed a five-year contract extension last week to remain with the team through the 2031 season.
Kelly appeared to get hurt on a play near the end of the third quarter when he was hit by defensive tackle Michael Fletcher and favoured his throwing arm. He stayed in the game briefly but was ultimately replaced at the 9:43 mark of the fourth quarter. "With Chad, I’ve said it before, he’s a really tough guy, and he’s a really tough competitor," Miller said. "It wasn’t anything initially that I thought about, but in seeing him move his arm around a little bit when he was coming off, I thought we’ll just have to see."
The coach added that Kelly never initially complained but reached a point where he said he could not continue. "Whether it got worse, I’m not sure. I just know he reached a point that he said he couldn’t go," Miller said. Kelly described feeling "a little sore, a little rough" after the game. "I tried going back in there; I threw two passes, one to (Kevin Mital), one to (David Ungerer III). I just felt like I couldn’t control the ball anymore," Kelly said.
He expressed disappointment at being unable to finish the playoff game. "Rehab, get right, make sure I’m ready for the full season. It’s a long, taxing season, but you gotta be available," Kelly said. "Not just being out there, but you gotta make sure you play every game. I feel like I let the team down, let my boys down. It sucks." This is not Kelly's first playoff injury. He suffered a leg injury in the 2024 East Final, which forced him to miss the entire 2025 season. Arbuckle, who replaced Kelly, has previous experience stepping in during critical moments. He took over for an injured Kelly in a regular-season win over Montreal last year and then guided the Argonauts to a 41-24 Grey Cup victory over Winnipeg, earning game MVP honours. The Blue Bombers won Saturday's semifinal on a late touchdown pass from Dru Brown.
With files from Sportsnet