TORONTO — It's been a long road back for S.J. Green.
The veteran receiver will make his Toronto debut Sunday afternoon when the Argonauts host the arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats at BMO Field. But the contest will be Green's first since suffering a serious knee injury June 30, 2016 while with the Montreal Alouettes.
The six-foot-two, 216-pound Green required season-ending surgery to repair a complete tear of his medial collateral ligament (MCL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the meniscus in his right knee.
"Forever and a year, man, it's been a long road," Green said. "It's been a humbling experience but in due time is all that I've been saying this off-season.
"I just let the process take its course."
Despite the severity of the injury, Green said he never considered retirement.
"Ultimately my mind was made up from the time I tore my ACL that I was going to fight and claw my way back to the position of being the dominant S.J. Green that I know I can be," he said. "I knew in due time my time would come."
Although Green told the Alouettes earlier this off-season that his rehab was ahead of schedule, Montreal dealt the 32-year-old Florida native to Toronto in April. The move reunited Green with Toronto coach Marc Trestman and GM Jim Popp, who Green had played for with the Als.
During his 10-year tenure in Montreal, Green had 444 catches for 6,626 yards and 42 TDs in 116 career games. He was a five-time East Division all-star and surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau four times while helping the club earn Grey Cup wins in 2009 and 2010.
But Green said he holds no grudges against his former team.
"There's no reason to be bitter anymore, no reason to have hard feelings or any ill will towards Montreal," Green said. "Ultimately, Jim Popp was the one who brought me here (CFL) and I'm back with Jim so I'm happy and have nothing else to say about Montreal."
Trestman, who served as Montreal's head coach from 2008-12, is glad to have Green in Toronto.
"I think he's certainly added value to our football team," Trestman said. "He's a man of great character, he's got leadership ability that's an intangible that you always want to have in your locker-room.
"He communicates really well with players. He's a guy who can interact and relate with everybody on the team so he's got that type of personality and leadership skill set."
But Trestman said the Argos will carefully monitor Green's workload to start the season.
"He's had good practices, he hasn't missed anything," Trestman said. "We've worked him in according to the doctor's plan to get him ready for the first game.
"He's going to start, he's going to play as much as we think he can play and he thinks he can play. That will be our platform for how we work with him for the rest of the month."
The arrival of Green not only gives veteran starter Ricky Ray a proven big-play receiver but a player with experience in Trestman's offence.
"We all know what he can do on the field," Ray said. "It's the little things off the field that he does so well in terms of his leadership and communication and how he comes to work every day that are going to be big for this football team."
Green said he can feel a chemistry developing between himself and Ray.
"It's coming," he said. "We've started communicating about different routes and concepts taking place in practice, what he sees, what I see.
"We're hooking up in practice on the deep balls a bit. It's Week 1 this week and we'll continue to grow and build."
On Sunday, Green will also be looking to earn bragging rights. His brother-in-law Brian Tyms is a receiver with Hamilton.
"It will be fun to go out there and compete and talk some trash among family," Green said. "My goal for the season is to dominate and win every rep.
"I feel like if I dominate and I win every rep then I'm helping my team win and be successful. At the end of the season the numbers will speak for themselves."
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
