For Jermaine Copeland it's always been about the timing.
In 2009, as a key component of the Calgary Stampeders attack, he had it.
Now a wide receiver in his second season with the Toronto Argonauts, not so much.
The 10-year veteran is hoping that a change in Toronto quarterbacks from Cleo Lemon to Steven Jyles will help him regain his status as one of the CFL's most dangerous receivers.
"I definitely believe that my numbers would be a lot different if I had Jyles from the beginning of the season," Copeland said with typical candour following the Argos practice at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus on Wednesday.
Copeland will get the opportunity to put that theory to test on Saturday when Jyles, in his second start leading the Toronto offence, should be much more comfortable in his new role against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina.
It will be a battle of the CFL's East and West basement dwellers and another setback for the Argos, already gagging from the taste of a 2-8 record, will all but terminate their slender playoff hopes.
With eight games left in the regular-season schedule, one of Toronto's priorities will be to get Jyles ready for next season. That, Argos head coach Jim Barker said, is a time-consuming enterprise for a player with just one 2011 start to his credit.
"I'm excited at every game Steven Jyles plays," Barker said. "I watch some of the things he does even in practice and shake my head. He's a pretty special player."
Copeland is hoping his productivity will increase with Jyles at the helm.
In 2009 playing for the Stampeders, Copeland was at the top of his game, snatching 81 passes for 1,235 yards and a CFL-leading 12 touchdowns.
After an off-season trade to Toronto, his importance diminished. He caught just 48 balls for 639 yards and just three touchdowns in 2010.
This season, Copeland has caught 31 passes for 439 yards, none of them for touchdowns.
"It's definitely rough," Copeland said of his diminished role. "But I knew coming to Toronto that my numbers weren't going to be through the roof playing with a quarterback [Lemon]who hasn't played in the CFL before."
In Calgary, Copeland was paired with veteran Henry Burris, who had the knack of being able to deliver the ball to the spot on the field before the receiver even got there.
Burris was a master of timing plays, a style that Copeland thrived on and an aspect of the game that Lemon was still trying to learn before he was summarily fired from the Argos last week.
Copeland hopes to rekindle that magic once again with Jyles, who in his start last week against the B.C. Lions found Copeland for five receptions for 73 yards.
"It's all about timing with Jermaine," Barker said.