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Dan Lanning provides injury updates on Chase Cota, other key Oregon players

Jarrid Denneyby:Jarrid Denney•10/31/22•

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(Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Oregon saw a handful of key players deal with injuries during its Week 9 win over the California Golden Bears in Berkeley.

Chase Cota, the Ducks’ second-leading receiver, left the game due to an apparent injury midway through the first half. He caught a pass from Bo Nix but fell awkwardly after he was hit, and stayed down after the play.

Cota did not return to the game and was later seen on the Oregon sideline in street clothes.

Senior offensive lineman Steven Jones began the season as the Ducks’ starting right guard but suffered an injury during Oregon’s Week 2 win over Eastern Washington and has not played since. For the first time since that game, Jones was in uniform and went through pregame warmups on Saturday. But he did not play.

Junior defensive tackle Taki Taimani suffered an apparent lower-body injury during Oregon’s Week 8 win over UCLA and was in a walking boot last week. He did not make the trip to Berkeley on Saturday.

During his Monday press conference, Lanning was asked to provide status updates on all three players.

“To be determined,” Lanning said. “All those guys are working to get back. I don’t know how long some of those will go. So, we’ll kind of wait and see. Don’t wanna guess too early.”

After Saturday’s game, Cota Tweeted that he is “gonna be alright.”

The fifth-year senior from Medford, Ore., is in the midst of a strong first season with the Ducks after transferring in from UCLA over the offseason. He has started every game for Oregon this year and is the team’s second-leading receiver with 313 yards and one touchdown on 23 catches.

Once Cota left the game, sophomore Dont’e Thornton played most of the snaps in his absence. According to Pro Football Focus, Thornton was on the field for 36 snaps. That’s the most he has played since Week 2 when he played 40 snaps.

Josh Delgado (8) also saw an uptick in playing time. Isaiah Brevard and Isaah Crocker each played three snaps, and Caleb Chapman played one.

During his press conference, Lanning was asked who could fill in for Cota at receiver if he isn’t available for Saturday’s game at Colorado.

“We saw a few a few different guys,” Lanning said in reference to the Cal game. “Dont’e Thornton had a bigger role there in the second half. Kris Hutson got to move positions a little bit. I thought that was really positive to see him be able to move positions within a game and have some success and not have some mental errors and busts. He was able to go out there and do something he didn’t necessarily practice during the week and execute at a high level.

“We’ll continue to see more players. Delgado and a few others moving forward, depending on how how long that looks like Chase will not be with us.”

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