On the first day of the Argos’ new-look offence, a few balls hit the ground, a few plays were made and a few players stood out among the many bodies who hit the field at Downsview Park.

In the CFL, this is the season when practice rosters are allowed to expand and the Argos got into the act by adding four new faces on Thursday.

More than anything, it was a day when the team symbolically started anew, not necessarily throwing in the towel, but starting all over again with the hopes of winning and planning for the future.

With two games against Calgary, beginning with Monday’s visit by the red-hot Stamps, another against Saskatchewan and the season finale in Edmonton to be played, the chances of the Argos making the playoffs are slim, but stranger things have happened in the CFL and the team needs a lot to fall its way to qualify.

The new environment may have been summed up best when head coach Scott Milanovich gathered with rookie receiver Llevi Noel to point out how to properly handle the football after making a reception. In football, the best way to avoid a turnover is for any ball-handler to carry it high and tight.

Overall, Day 1 wasn’t bad, but no one really knows what will be summoned on game day, especially against a team such as Calgary, which hasn’t lost a game since Week 1 in B.C.

Whatever happens from here until the end of the season, it’ll be up to newquarterback Drew Willy to better understand the system and get on the same page with his receivers.

Willy is a hard worker and he’s been putting in plenty of time, on and off the field.

Injured incumbent Ricky Ray has been helpful, as the veteran always has been, but it remains to be seen what Willy and this offence can produce with so many new faces and unknowns such as Noel and Brian Jones, who will each be making their starting debuts on Monday.

“For me, it’s really about taking it one day at a time and focus on Calgary,’’ said Willy, who made his own starting debut for the Argos in last Sunday’s humiliating loss in Montreal. “That’s really all I can worry about.”

The season, by his own admission, has been a whirlwind for Willy, who began the year as Winnipeg’s starter, was benched for Matt Nichols and then traded to the Argos.

He’s been with Toronto for three weeks, has seen the team drop three games in a row and then had to adjust to yet another set of bizarre circumstances when Vidal Hazelton, Kevin Elliott, Tori Gurley and Phil Bates, all import receivers, were released on Monday .

“It’s one of those things in pro football where you have to deal with it,’’ said Willy. “You never want to see teammates leave. I thought I had a pretty good relationship with those guys for as long as I was here. A decision was made and you have to move forward.

“You have to focus on what you can control. As a professional athlete, every single day, you have to make sure to put in the time in your craft and hopefully everything turns out the way you want it to.”

ISAAC: 'THIS IS A BUSINESS'

Brandon Isaac was on the receiving end of the bad news in 2013 when he was told by the Argos he was no longer wanted — voted captain on defence before suddenly being released and picked up by Hamilton.

Isaac and released wide receiver Tori Gurley are close, fellow South Carolinians, but the veteran linebacker was also close with Kevin Elliott, Vidal Hazelton and Phil Bates, who also were purged from the roster.

As one of the few players who lined up on Toronto’s 2012 Grey Cup title team, Isaac has seen how head coach Scott Milanovich has held things together, even when so many distractions threatened to compromise the team.

“I don’t disagree, however I am disappointed because I am close to Tori and those guys,’’ said Isaac. “You build a relationship and sometimes when you see people go, it bothers you. However, this is a business and, at the end of the day, coach has a job and his job is to put out the best people and have the best working environment.

“He’s made it clear what he wanted and he’s trying to turn it in that direction. He made a bold statement and it’s on us to come together as a unit and play good football.”

THE ODD COUPLE?

Kenny Shaw has a new roommate and some good-natured teasing getting thrown his way.

It’s been a few days of upheaval in Argoland, but when news of Drew Willy moving in with Shaw began to make the rounds, the mood turned much lighter.

“My roommate is Drew, quarterback,’’ said Shaw, whose previous roommate was defensive back T.J. Heath, who went to Winnipeg as part of the package that landed Willy in Toronto.

“Man, I’ve heard that so many times,’’ added Shaw when asked if he was expecting more balls thrown his way. “It’s crazy, but we don’t really talk football. He just moved in and the only thing we’ve done is go out to eat. And he picked up the tab. There was love.”

Up until his move in with Shaw, Willy lived out of a hotel room.