TORONTO — DaShaun Amos and Royce Metchie are together again on the football field.
The two are back starting alongside each other in the Toronto Argonauts' secondary. They also did so last year before Amos's stellar campaign ended prematurely with a season-ending ankle injury.
Amos and Metchie have been teammates since 2018 when they began their CFL careers with the Calgary Stampeders. The only time they didn't play together was 2020 when Amos signed with the NFL's Green Bay Packers and the CFL didn't stage a season due to the global pandemic.
Calgary dealt Metchie to Toronto on Feb. 4, 2022. Four days later, Amos joined the Argos in free agency.
"(Metchie) means more to me than he knows," Amos said. "It's funny because I joke with him all the time that when we came to Toronto, he was traded before I hit free agency and he was trying to leave me.
"Looking back there and seeing Royce is such a great feeling and to me, he's the best safety in the league. He doesn't get the praise he deserves but he has a lot of knowledge, he can fill any role, (and) he's willing to do anything for the team and the defence. That's the kind of guy you want at safety."
Amos and Metchie have also been a part of the same two Grey Cup-winning squads (Calgary in 2018, Toronto in 2022).
The six-foot, 190-pound Amos, a 2019 West Division all-star, got off to a great start last season. He appeared in Toronto's first nine regular-season games and registered 15 tackles, three pass knockdowns and two interceptions (one returned for TD) before his injury.
"I did feel like I was having one of my best years but it just wasn't my time, I guess," Amos said. "It just made me hungrier this year to come back and give the team my all again and try to beat last year.
"But with a new team and new guys it's more so making sure the defence and the back end as a whole are playing well. The individual things, they'll come but right now it's about the team."
Over five games this season, Amos has three tackles and an interception for Toronto (3-2).
Amos and Metchie are the lone holdovers from last year's secondary as cornerbacks Qwan'tez Stiggers (NFL's New York Jets) and Jamal Peters (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) are with other teams while halfback Robertson Daniel wasn't re-signed.
"For some guys, this is their first time in this league and they're seeing a lot of new things," Amos said. "So that does call for the leadership to step up and kind of emphasize the details a little more.
"When you have guys with experience then they know some of those little details. But when you have younger guys and new guys to this league you have to highlight those details for them."
A fact not lost upon Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, who appreciates having the likes of Amos and Metchie to provide a veteran presence on the Argos' defence.
"It's critical, especially on this defence (because) there's a lot of communication," Dinwiddie said. "We have some youth that we're growing with but it's not an easy system.
"So when you've got those veterans back there communicating and getting guys the right call and into the right alignments, that's crucial."
The ankle injury is certainly something in the past for Amos, who said he knew early during training camp that he'd made a complete recovery.
"I played it a little smart then," he said. "I didn't want to do anything too extensive on it but after the first two, three days I didn't have any hiccups and just got into a routine of how I need to prepare for practice."
Then again, Amos didn't hold himself to a specific timeline for his return. He never doubted that he'd suit up again in 2024, but let his faith — in God, Toronto's strength-and-conditioning staff, and his work ethic — determine when.
"I spent a lot of time rehabbing because I wanted to make sure when I came back I was 100 per cent and wasn't selling the team short. In the back of my head I always felt at the right time I'll be back to 100 (per cent) and out here with the guys," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2024.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press