CALGARY - Kicker Rob Maver felt sick to his stomach after letting his teammates down on Friday night.
Maver missed three field goals as the Calgary Stampeders lost 23-21 to the Toronto Argonauts in front of 27,428 fans at McMahon Stadium on Canada Day.
"I'm sick about it," said Maver, who made one 17-yard field goal and missed three others from 32, 21 and 45 yards out. "I lost the game and I let my teammates and the staff and the fans down."
The second-year Stampeders kicker was grateful for the support of his teammates despite his poor performance.
"As far as guys in this locker room go, you really couldn't ask for a better bunch," Maver said. "If I were another player, I'd want to take me outside the back of the clubhouse and stuff me in a garbage bin and that would be perfectly justified after tonight."
After the game, Calgary coach and general manager John Hufnagel said that Maver injured his leg during the pre-game warmup.
"He aggravated it as the game went along," said Hufnagel, who didn't rule out having to recruit a new kicker prior to Calgary's next game on July 8 in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions. "Right now I have a health problem with that position.
"We need to find a field-goal kicker."
Maver wouldn't comment on the severity of the injury before getting checked out by medical staff on Saturday.
"With all due respect all I can say at this point is I'm not fully healthy and we're going to assess the damage and evaluate it tomorrow," said Maver.
Shortly after the game wide receiver Johnny Forzani tweeted: "And seriously keep the chillness on my boy @rmaver6 (Maver). Dude has a torn Quad and is a great kicker. WILL win us games this yr. Thats a fact."
Despite the poor performance, Maver said his teammates supported him and gave him words of encouragement after the setback.
"Everybody's just said, 'Just get healthy, we've got you, we're in this thing together,'" said the kicker.
Long snapper Randy Chevrier, who sits right beside Maver in the Stamps' locker room, said he fully expects Maver to recover from his injury and rebound from the lacklustre performance in Calgary's home opener.
"Obviously this is a setback, but the true test of any athlete is how they respond in times of adversity," Chevrier said. "I have no doubt that Rob is of great character, he's a great guy and he works hard and he wants it so bad."
Chevrier also said that the loss couldn't solely be blamed on Maver.
"As a team goes, we didn't do much better," Chevrier said. "We should be able to win regardless of what happens. No one person's performance should determine the outcome of a game."
Quarterback Henry Burris, who had one interception and no touchdown passes, was upset he couldn't engineer any scoring drives until Joffrey Reynolds and Jon Cornish ran for a pair of TDs in the fourth quarter.
"We just didn't capitalize and score any points," said Burris, who completed 26 of 37 passes for 293 yards. "It always comes back to haunt you when you don't score any points."
During the game, receiver Romby Bryant looked visibly upset when a pass by Burris fell short of his outstretched arms.
"We've just got to work on our timing," Bryant said. "That's between me and Hank."
Bryant added that he's optimistic the Stamps can turn things around next week against the Lions.
"We still good," he said. "It's only one game."
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