Instead of having a bye to end the year. The Toronto Argonauts will be playing in Week 16 of the CFL season, after all, against the Edmonton Elks. The CFL announced today that it had rescheduled the Argos-Elks game, which was postponed in week 3. The do-over game is slated for Tuesday, November 16th, 7 pm ET at BMO Field.

The good news for the Boatmen in the league’s rescheduling is that they won’t lose a home game. Something that many insiders suggested could be a possibility. The league and BMO Field found a date that could work for both parties. The only drawback to the rescheduling is that Toronto will be playing Edmonton on only a few days’ rest, after playing Hamilton on Friday, November 12th. However, the Argos will be at home for that contest. So they won’t have to travel for a short week.

The Argos are in the midst of preparations for back-to-back games with division rival Hamilton in weeks 5 and 6. The Boatmen travel to the Ti-Cats to play them this coming Monday in the 50th chapter of the Labour Day Classic. The Argonauts practiced today at Centennial Park as the team inches closer to the Eastern Showdown. Last week’s impromptu bye week has given Toronto extra time to rest and prep for the two games they will be playing against Hamilton in a five-day span.

• Update- A COVID outbreak on Edmonton shook up the Argos-Elks game in week 3. But the Toronto Argonauts could be facing similar issues in week 5. Late Thursday, the Toronto Argonauts released their injury report for the day. Offensive Linemen Dariusz Bladek, Philip Blake, and WR Ricky Collins all missed practice on Thursday. But it was revealed that the reason for it was due to COVID protocol. CFL Newshub reached out to the Argonauts for more details but no further details were given at this time.
• The hope is that whatever issues, are underway, that there isn’t an issue that hampers the team as they move towards Monday’s game. More on the story as it develops.

The league had to reshuffle a few of its games for the CFL to make this rescheduling work. Edmonton, who violated the COVID policy, will suffer the consequences of playing several games in a short time frame.

Here is the official statement from the league on the rescheduling:

The Edmonton Elks at Toronto Argonauts game, which was postponed from August 26 because of Covid-19 concerns, has been successfully rescheduled to Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 pm EST, the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced today.

Another organization, which previously had a hold on BMO Field for that date, agreed to relinquish it if accommodated elsewhere. That contributed to a “domino effect,” which has caused some other changes to the CFL schedule:

• The Saskatchewan Roughriders – Edmonton Elks game scheduled for Friday, November 5 at 9:45 pm EDT in Saskatchewan will now be played instead in Edmonton on the same date at the same time.
• The Saskatchewan Roughriders – Edmonton Elks game scheduled in Edmonton for Saturday, November 13 at 7:00 pm EST will now be played in Saskatchewan on the same date at 4 pm EST.
• The Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Montreal Alouettes game scheduled for Saturday, November 13 at 4:00 pm EST in Montreal will now be played on the same date and at the same location but at 1:00 pm EST.

Since the realigned schedule results in the Elks playing a series of three games over a period of seven days, the CFL and the Canadian Football League Players Association have agreed that both teams can each add an additional five players to their active rosters for the following games: 

• Edmonton at Toronto on Tuesday, November 16
• Edmonton at BC on Friday, November 19

The complete CFL schedule is available at CFL.ca. Here is a summary of the changes: