Redblacks might add top defender Frye to lengthy IR list
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Two silver linings surround the dark cloud that could take one more important player out of the Ottawa Redblacks lineup this week.
First off, at least it’s not another Canadian.
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Secondly, there’s another solid replacement ready to step in for him.
The next man down could be cornerback Adrian Frye, who has been a limited participant in practice the last two days because of a knee injury.
If the CFL had a Defensive Player of the First Three Games award, Frye would likely be the East Division nominee up against Saskatchewan’s Jameer Thurman.
Along with having three times the number of forced fumbles as anyone else in the league, he has a recovery of his own and 13 defensive tackles, tied for second-most on the Redblacks.
Should the 26-year-old former Texas Tech Red Raider be unable to suit up for Sunday night’s home tilt against the Toronto Argonauts, he will be replaced at the strong-side corner spot by Alijah McGhee, who would come off IR to make his 2025 debut.
One of the best training camp battles in Kingston featured Frye and McGhee, who held down the starting strong-side corner job through most of last season.
“Adrian’s a tough guy, and he wants to get out there, so he pushed it a little more today than he did yesterday,” head coach Bob Dyce said Thursday after his team’s practice. “So we’ll see what happens after day three.”
Last Saturday in Calgary, the Redblacks’ injury lists carried 14 players, including 11 on the one-game. Particularly taxing is that they were missing 10 Canadians.
Expect that Ottawa will have to deal with a similar scenario when hosting the 0-3 defending Grey Cup champs — and for Dustin Crum to make his second consecutive start at quarterback.
Dru Brown wore pads and threw passes on the sidelines at Thursday’s practice, but Crum was once again taking first-team reps.
Dyce could offer no timetable for Brown to return from a hip injury he suffered late in the season opener.
“We just take it day by day,” said Dyce. “And go from there.”
Has the importance of having a quality backup QB ever been more evident than this season? By the end of Week 4, it looks like as many as six of the nine teams will have had to turn to their backups.
Like the Canadian fill-ins on the Redblacks roster, Crum stepped up in a big way against the Stamps.
While the cold, rain, and high winds in Calgary were playing havoc with thrown balls, he would have completed 16 of 22 passes had seven not been dropped by receivers.
More importantly, Crum didn’t commit a single turnover and showed more patience than he has in the past by looking for his second and third receiving options before taking off with the ball.
“We always ask more from everybody,” said Dyce. “But we were very happy with what Dustin did. I thought he had great command of the offence.”
Crum says he hasn’t had a peek ahead to Sunday’s forecast, but knows that whatever it brings will be refreshing compared to the “ridiculous” conditions at McMahon Stadium last week, which he maintains were “probably the roughest I’ve ever played in for throwing.”
In making his 15th CFL start, but first in more than 600 days dating back to 2023, when he was thrown to the wolves as a starter after entering camp fourth on the depth chart, Crum discovered a comfortable level and the “game slowed down a little bit” for him.
“You hear a lot of guys talk about quarterbacks just having a grasp of everything going on …. it felt good to be out there with the guys and get to do that and feel the game speed,” he said. “Slowing things down and being able to see each thing for what it is, knowing where people are and when they’re going to be there, that’s what helps. Sometimes you cannot see when a quarterback gets a little frantic, or when the pace of the plays gets them a little bit. So to be able to almost orchestrate or know what’s going on to a degree, I would say I felt probably the best I’ve felt up here in the league so far.
“Obviously, whenever you establish a run game the way we did, it’s huge for a quarterback and helps him get into the game as well,” he added. “So it was really in a lot of different factors to it, but it definitely felt good, and it was something to build off.”
Crum did a lot of action in last season’s 22-22 tie at TD Place with the Roughriders, when he entered the game after Brown was injured and completed 21 of 32 passes for 211 yards, but this will be his first home start since Oct. 28, 2023, when the Redblacks closed out their season with a 27-22 loss to the Argonauts.
Crum’s favourite target that day was Justin Hardy, who pulled in six catches for 119 yards, but last season’s nominee for the most outstanding player on the Redblacks has been a non-factor in the last two weeks.
Hardy’s string of consecutive 100-yard games carried over from 2024 and extended to five in the season opener, but against Montreal in Week 2, he had just two catches for 20 yards, and in Calgary had just one grab for five yards.
While it looks like he misses the chemistry he has with Brown, it’s not a thought Hardy has entertained.
“I feel like I just need to be the security blanket that all quarterbacks want,” said the 33-year-old former Atlanta Falcon. “Just make sure that they feel comfortable whenever they are in the game, whoever it is. Just make sure they’ve got somebody they can trust and know, okay, I can count on this guy. I just like to make sure I’m doing that no matter who’s in.”
Meanwhile, Hardy is full of praise for Crum and his development with the Redbacks over three years — the same amount of time it has taken many QBs to hit their stride in the Canadian game.
“Coming in as a rookie, he was just getting to know the rules and trying to learn how to play quarterback in the CFL, which is a little bit different down south,” said Hardy. “So just seeing the growth now from then until now has just been tremendous.
“He’s been a great player, student of the game, throws a great ball, understands the offence, understands what he’s looking at. So I’m happy for him.”
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