MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Ricky Foley is ready to line up against an opponent wearing something other than Double Blue.
For nearly two weeks, Foley has been trading blows with the same players during the Toronto Argonauts training camp. But on Saturday, the Argos will face their arch rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, at Rogers Centre in the first CFL exhibition games for both teams.
And it's clear the Argos are in need of a change of scenery. On Thursday, tempers flared as import offensive lineman Edawn Coughman and non-import defensive tackle Miguel Robede exchanged punches.
"The timing is right," Foley said. "We've been hitting each other so much . . . you get sick of hitting your own guys all the time.
"But I think it (exhibition game) should be earlier to be honest. Maybe you should have one week of training camp then hit someone else. That might be a little better."
Argos head coach Jim Barker said quarterbacks Cleo Lemon and Dalton Bell will see time with the club's starting offence. Lemon captured the starter's job last season and helped guide Toronto to a 9-9 record and third spot in the East Division but is again competing with Bell for the No. 1 position in camp.
"We couldn't go any longer I don't think without playing someone else," Barker said. "It just gets to a point where you see the same coverages and they see the same routes, so it will be great to play against someone else.
"We're not gameplanning or anything, we're just going out and do our stuff. The exhibition game is about us, we need to develop our timing and continue to grow offensively. Defensively we enter the season with a top (unit) and expect them to pick up where they left off."
Toronto's unit was the CFL's stingiest last season, allowing a league-low 24.6 points per game. Staunch defence and stellar special-teams play helped the Argos succeed despite an offence that was at or near the bottom of most league categories.
Barker has high expectations for his defence again this year, in large part because Foley has been with the unit from the start of camp. The six-foot-two, 258-pound native of Courtice, Ont., joined Toronto midway through last year after being released by both the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets and never really settled in because he was seemingly always playing catchup.
"That was pretty much the whole year," Foley said. "It was kind of like you just don't have the connection with the guys.
"Training camp is when you put things in like how your team is going to be. It's when you mould your identity and what you're going to be like and when you miss out on that it's rough to come in halfway through the year and jump in. Now we're all on the same page, we're all flying around and I know the defence inside and out. I can just be an athlete instead of being like a robot and thinking about what I have to do."
Foley, 30, gave the CFL a pretty good idea in 2009 just how good he can be. Given the immense task of replacing all-star defensive end Cameron Wake in the B.C. Lions' lineup, Foley responded by posting a league-high 12 sacks and 51 tackles en route to being named the league's top Canadian.
"I'm excited to see Ricky play," Barker said. "He just seems to have a knack about him. He takes the wrong gap sometimes and goes the wrong direction but is always making plays."
While the 2010 season was a memorable one for Toronto -- the club earned more wins (nine) than the previous two seasons combined (seven) -- it was one to forget for Foley. After leading the CFL in sacks the previous year, Foley had just one after signing with his new club.
But Foley's impact on Toronto's defence isn't only reflected by numbers. He's a Canadian starting at a position usually reserved for an American, meaning Foley's presence gives the Argos the flexibility to play a non-import elsewhere.
And despite his sub-par numbers, Foley has no regrets about trying out for both the Seahawks and Jets. Foley appeared to have a future in New York when he was placed on the club's practice roster but was released shortly afterwards.
"It (NFL) was an itch I had to scratch," he said. "You don't want to ever be asking yourself, 'What if?' and I'm at peace with it.
"I was in position to make the team and I tore my groin the second play of pre-season. Timing is everything in football and the thing is teams can't wait around for first-year guys who haven't really proven themselves and if you're hurt you can't really prove yourself. That's the nature of this business and I understand that."
Foley also understands why the Montreal Alouettes will again be seen as the team to beat in the East Division. After all, the Als dismantled Toronto 48-17 in last year's conference final en route to capturing their second straight Grey Cup championship.
"You have to aim for Montreal," Foley said. "Montreal is the champion until someone beats them."
That's been a tall order of late. Montreal has finished atop the East Division the last three seasons under head coach Marc Trestman and each time has won the conference final before a raucous Olympic Stadium gathering to advance to the Grey Cup game.
"I don't think last year Montreal was that much better a team than we were," Foley said. "The thing is by finishing first Montreal gets two weeks to prepare for one game at home before something like 60,000 fans while you have to go grind it out in the East Division semifinal.
"Their path still isn't easy but it is an advantage and is why you want to win the East. We have to do that and get two weeks to prepare and then pack the Rogers Centre while they go grind out a semifinal game in a barnburner. We want to be where Montreal is."
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