With Ricky Ray gone for up to eight weeks, the focus shifts to backup Zach Collaros

Toronto Argonauts' general manager Jim Barker's optimism about the health of quarterback Ricky Ray Wednesday proved to be unfounded, as the team announced Thursday that Ray has "a partial tear (in) a muscle in his shoulder that's called the teres major" and could be gone for up to eight weeks. The question now is how the Argos will do in Ray's absence. They're leading the East Division with a 5-3 record through eight games, but have been on a slight downturn recently, barely edging Edmonton and then getting thumped by Calgary last Friday after Ray was hurt. Moreover, 4-4 Hamilton and 3-5 Montreal have played better lately and could overtake Toronto if the Argos go into a slump. Will the Boatmen be able to keep sailing without Ray at the helm? That largely depends on the play of his replacement, former Cincinnati Bearcat Zach Collaros.

Collaros is in his second year with the Argonauts, so he's at least picked up some experience in the vastly-different CFL game, which is a good sign. Adjusting to the bigger field, three downs, 12-a-side route and coverage schemes, and passing (and pass completion) emphasis can be an extremely difficult and prolonged process, so it's positive for Toronto that the man they're expecting to step in at least has a bit of a background in the Canadian game at this point. Moreover, he shone in his first CFL start earlier this year while Ray was out with another injury, leading the Argonauts to a 38-12 win over the B.C. Lions. On the year, Collaros has completed 70.8 per cent of his passes and thrown for 675 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. That gives him a quarterback rating of 112.9, which is quite impressive. He also seems to be a pretty good fit for head coach Scott Milanovich and offensive coordinator Marcus Brady's system, which emphasizes short passes, high accuracy from the quarterback and yards after the catch from receivers. Thus, there are reasons to think the Argonauts' ship may not immediately sink without Ray.

However, Collaros looked rather overwhelmed in his last CFL action. He took over for the injured Ray partway through the first quarter of last Friday's game against the Stampeders, and he didn't exactly shine. On the day, he completed 16 of 26 passes (61.5 per cent) for 221 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He did scramble eight times for 37 yards, but it was far from a dominant performance: he only led one touchdown drive all game. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean Collaros will fail going forward, as there's a substantial difference between being thrust into action in the case of injury and being prepared to start a game. The Argos' struggles also weren't all on Collaros; their line didn't give him a lot of time, their ineffective ground game was exposed, and their defence wasn't able to do much against Kevin Glenn and the Stampeders. Still, while Collaros has shown himself capable of great showings, he's also looked average to bad at times. His play's going to be crucial to determining how Toronto does without Ray, and which version of Collaros the Argonauts get may dictate where they are in the standings when their starter returns.