BRADENTON, FLA.

Everything was going well for Logan Kilgore in his CFL debut — even if it was a pre-season game — until some moments of poor decision-making in the pocket spoiled it all.

Those poor throws aside, the Argos were convinced they had a quarterback prospect in Logan because of his mental and physical skills.

Then came a health issue that turned out to be a viral condition that kept Kilgore away from the team to reduce the risk of any exposure.

Veteran Adrian McPherson was then signed and newly anointed starter Trevor Harris would lead the Argos to comeback wins.

“We were rolling,” Kilgore said this week at the Argos’ annual mini-camp here in Florida. “And I just told myself: ‘There goes the year.’”

It was over in Kilgore’s mind, but in football it’s never officially over until a team parts company with you.

The Argos believe in Kilgore and feel he’ll one day be a starting quarterback. And he will have every chance to earn a job as Ricky Ray’s understudy this coming season.

Kilgore was at mini-camp last year and was back at the IMG Academy field for this year’s exercise, getting a better feel for everything that’s demanded from the quarterback position. The more reps he receives, the more comfortable Kilgore gets and the more he’s able to make the right throw to the right receiver.

Kilgore, who had a great relationship with Harris last year, doesn’t live far from Ray in California.

“He lives an hour away,’’ said Kilgore. “We spent a week throwing and talking concepts, picking his brain. I probably bugged him asking so many questions but I think it helps him to talk through things.”

Head coach Scott Milanovich is a big fan of Kilgore.

“Mentally, he’s sharp,’’ said the one-time quarterback. “Physically, he makes all the throws. He’s a very fluid thrower, very natural. He just needs reps, getting his timing figured out with how we’re moving from receiver to receiver.”

As Kilgore is keenly aware, the system Milanovich runs is demanding.

“You just don’t plug and place guys at the quarterback position with this offence,’’ said Kilgore. “You have to listen to your feet. It’s a system Scott coaches very meticulously. You don’t just run and gun. Ricky is very good at listening to his feet, making his decisions based on what he sees and not just guessing.

“There’s definitely a learning curve with this system, not just with the verbiage, but just getting into the flow, not to mention you’re learning new defences. It’s night and day how comfortable I’m feeling, but every practice day is more and more reps. If someone is out there in football and they’re thinking, you can tell they’re a step slow.

”There’s nothing better than watching an offence where everyone knows exactly where they are going. It’s fun to watch.”

Kilgore will no longer have Harris around to talk football and life, a void he says he’ll feel once he reports to camp in Guelph next month.

But change is the one constant in football, a reality Kilgore understands.

“He was in the system a few years,’’ said Kilgore of Harris, who got his chance last season after watching Zach Collaros the year before, but signed with Ottawa as a free agent.

“He knew what it was like to be in that backup role. He was quick to help us and talk through things. He did a great job and it’s definitely different not having him around, but that won’t kick in until all the vets are around. He wasn’t at this last year. He’ll be missed, but that’s the game of football and you have to move on.”

PAIRING UP THE BACKUPS

The race for the No. 2 quarterback job in Toronto is wide open, a competition that likely won’t be decided until the pre-season kicks off in June.

Head coach Scott Milanovich knows he has pieces to work with in the form of Adrian McPherson, a veteran who did a stellar job in running a wind offence in the Eastern semifinal last year, Logan Kilgore and Cody Fajardo.

The Argos are hoping to come to terms with Fajardo, who has looked very good at mini-camp.

Fajardo was exposed to the CFL game late last season, but never took any real reps until camp held at IMG.

Had Trevor Harris agreed to terms, the race for the starting job would have been wide open as well, but Harris wanted to be the man, as he should, and he signed with Ottawa.

Ricky Ray is the No. 1 quarterback, but no quarterback survives an entire CFL season without hitting some injury bug.

In Kilgore and Fajardo, the Argos believe they have a Harris/Zach Collaros presence with Kilgore more a drop-back guy like Harris, Fajardo capable of getting out of the pocket like Collaros and making plays on his feet.

Barring something out of the blue, the Argos would like to have four quarterbacks in camp.

In the past, Ray has played, typically, one quarter in the pre-season. If that patterns holds true, the Argos will have seven quarters of exhibition play and training camp to decide who will be their No. 2 QB.

WILEY TIRED OF BEING JUST NFL PRACTICE MEAT

Devon Wylie had a front-row seat to the longest-running sports drama better known as the National Football League.

In the NFL, once a team that drafted you undergoes a change in coaches and management, a new regime ushers in new players rendering you to the ranks of dead meat.

Wylie knows first-hand the cruel business of big-time football, having been drafted in the fourth round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012 and then forced to wallow in the football wasteland.

“A new regime came in and cleaned house,’’ began Wylie. “I was on the run. When you leave the team that drafted you, in the NFL, you’re scrap.

“My second year after being released by the Chiefs I was on five different teams. Practice squad. Three weeks here, three weeks there.”

Wylie was getting tossed around, figuratively speaking, like some rag doll, teams signing him to essentially use his fresh legs as live bait.

“Third year came around and I had a little stint with the Niners,’’ added Wylie. “Then I got released. One year drafted and three years of here and there active and on practice squads. That was my fourth year last year and it ended with the Falcons. This is going into my fifth year of post-college football.

“This off-season came around and my agent says: ‘There are teams still interested, but what do you want to do?’ I told him I didn’t want to sit around and just be this friggin’ body for another team. I’ve been playing football too long in my life to be just a body for someone. I got too much gas in the tank to not play and have fun, use the talent God gave me. My agent tells me the Toronto Argonauts have my rights and I said: ‘Let’s just do it now.’”

It’s why Wylie was so excited to take part in Toronto’s mini-camp, why he was flying around the IMG Academy field and making plays down field like a rookie straight out of college, learning the game and getting acquainted with the many rules and techniques he must now embrace and master.

“I know a lot of guys see this as just a stepping stone to get back into the NFL, but I see it as a great opportunity to be part of a great organization, play football and have fun playing football,” he added.

Wylie, who turns 28 on Sept. 2, is a wily veteran because of all that he’s seen, but he has a youthful demeanor given how little he’s actually played since he left Fresno State.

Think of Wes Welker or Weston Dressler when you watch Wylie, who can line up in the slot and return punts and kickoffs.

“It throws a different twist on route running,’’ said Wylie of his first exposure to three-down football. “But it’s a lot of fun having a running start at the line.”

There’s a lot to like about Wylie and his potential. He wants to play and the Argos may have found yet another receiving piece to compete for a starting spot. They’ve been spoiled with Chad Owens doing all that he was able to do during his days in Toronto, but he’s now in Hamilton as a new chapter begins.

Diontae Spencer has the inside track to assume Owens’ duties, but Wylie will be given a shot.