Justin Flowe "trending in the right direction" to return from injury for Oregon Ducks
The availability of Oregon star linebacker Justin Flowe has varied on a week-to-week basis this season.
Flowe was healthy to start the season and played in each of the Ducks’ first two games. But he did not see the field in Week 3 despite being in uniform, then played sparingly in Week 4.
During Oregon’s Week 5 win over Stanford, Flowe was on the sideline in street clothes. After the game, head coach Dan Lanning said that Flowe was ruled out just before kickoff.
On Monday, Lanning provided an additional update on Flowe’s status that would seem to indicate that the talented redshirt freshman is nearing a healthy return.
“I think things are trending in the right direction for Justin,” Lanning said when asked if Flowe might be able to play in Oregon’s Week 6 matchup at Arizona.
According to Pro Football Focus, Flowe has played 64 snaps in three games this season. He has tallied 19 tackles, eight solo stops, and two tackles-for-loss. His most significant contribution of the season thus far might have come in Week 4, when he came up with a massive tackle-for-loss in the fourth quarter during the Ducks’ comeback win over Washington State.
A former 5-star recruit who was the top linebacker in the country in the class of 2020, Flowe is the second-highest-rated recruit in program history, according to 247 Sports. But his first two seasons were derailed by injuries.
He racked up 14 tackles in Oregon’s season-opening win over Fresno State last September but suffered a foot injury during the game that wiped out the rest of his 2021 campaign.
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The year prior, he tore his meniscus in the Ducks’ season-opening win over Stanford and missed the rest of the season.
In his absence, Jeffrey Bassa, Jackson LaDuke, and Keith Brown have all filled in alongside Oregon’s other star linebacker, Noah Sewell. Bassa has played 209 snaps this season — just eight fewer than Sewell. LaDuke has played 106 snaps, and Brown has played 72.
On Saturday, Bassa got the lion’s share of the playing time in Flowe’s absence and was on the field for 54 snaps.
The Ducks will hope to have Flowe back against a talented Arizona offense that is coming off a decisive win over Colorado in Week 5. The Wildcats are 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play.
Oregon and Arizona are scheduled for a 6 p.m. PT kickoff in Tucson, with the game set to air on Pac-12 Networks.
