Chad Kelly led the Argos out of the tunnel for the first time this season looking to restore more than just the Boatmen’s passing offence on Thursday night.

He was suspended for nine games, when the Commissioner’s office deemed the 2023 Most Outstanding Player in violation of its policy on violence and safety in the workplace.

After meetings with Kelly and his representatives, the league deemed he had met the conditions required in order for him to return to the team and he was reinstated last Monday.

“I’m just thankful to be back out there with my boys,” said Kelly, after the Double Blue squeaked out a 20-19 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. “I thought everyone did well, the defence did fantastic, special teams obviously won the game for us.” 

Kelly threw for 322 yards, igniting new life into the Argos pass game, with Damonte Coxie racking up 112 of them to become the first Boatman receiver to eclipse 100 yards this season.

There had been mixed reaction on social media to how the CFL handled the situation, but ultimately Kelly was announced to mostly cheers in front of a crowd of 19,327 – the largest regular season attendance for an Argos home game at BMO field since 2016.

“I have to own up to my mistakes,” Kelly told reporters at his first practice back on Monday. “I know what I did wrong and I’ve learned from it … I know I’ve affected a lot of people, including the person.”

Despite the varying noise around his return, the Argonauts looked to improve their record in a competitive East Division, now sitting in third at 6-4 after the victory, with just under half the season remaining.

Coming out of the gate Kelly started slow, as Toronto punted the ball on its first five drives, but picked up momentum. Argonauts’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie was happy with the quarterback’s effort.

“I thought he played well,” said Dinwiddie. “Unfortunately, other positions didn’t have our best game, I thought Chad did a (good) job managing the game, (taking) care of the football.”

One thing that will need to change moving forward is the execution inside the red zone. Even with the gaudy pass numbers, the Boatmen turned the ball over on downs within the two-yard line, three separate times.

“I think there were five touchdowns out there, that were on the one-yard line, that we have to get in, we have to be more aggressive, do different things,” Kelly said.

Those turnovers eventually led to Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu needing to put the Roughriders away on a missed 40-yard field goal through the endzone for a single as time expired.

“I felt like I let it come to me,” said Kelly, now 10-0 in as many starts. “For only two days of practice, I thought we had decent chemistry, you know, a win is a win.”

The Argos will now turn their attention to their division rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who sit dead last in the standings. That annual Labour Day Classic goes Monday.