Oregon football notebook: Ducks emerge from Week 4 win mostly healthy
No news is good news at this point in the season when it comes to injuries, and as Oregon continues its preparations for Saturday’s showdown with Stanford, the Ducks appear to be as healthy as they have been all season.
The first 15 minutes of Tuesday’s practice were open to reporters, and we did not observe any players dealing with new injuries. The usual suspects remain absent for the Ducks. Popo Aumavae, Maceal Afaese, Sua’ava Poti, and Steven Jones were not seen during practice as they continue to deal with long-term issues.
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Byron Cardwell and Caleb Chapman both went through position drills during the portion of practice that was open to reporters. Neither has played the last several games for Oregon as they deal with lingering injuries.
Cardwell had a sleeve on his right leg on Tuesday.
On Monday, Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of Cardwell: “When he’s able to do everything in practice and we feel comfortable about his health, then he’ll definitely be a guy that can contribute for us.”
Other news and notes
- Kris Hutson got the first rep at punt returner this morning. Josh Delgado got the second, and the two swapped back and forth for a few minutes. Seven McGee got a few reps later, but was not with Hutson and Delgado initially.
- After the usual warmups and special teams drills, Oregon broke into a “pressure punt” scenario. The Ducks’ two punters, Adam Barry and Ross James, lined up on the goal line and their teammates crowded around them while making as much noise as possible in order to distract them. James got the first rep and sent a short punt toward the right sideline, drawing a less-than-thrilled response from Lanning. Barry got the next rep and launched a longer punt down the middle of the field and received a more positive reaction.
- During Oregon’s win in Pullman on Saturday, James punted in a game for the first time this season after Barry struggled early in the day. Lanning said on Monday that the coaching staff wanted to give James “a shot” after what he had shown them in practice.
- The Ducks then broke into a mod-bracket drill for period two, which featured one ball carrier working in tandem with a receiver and tight end to beat a handful of defenders. Seven McGee had a couple of really nice reps during this period. He made multiple defenders miss each time he touched the ball and was not tackled on either of his reps.
- Oregon’s offensive linemen worked on combo blocking during period two.
- Practice is scheduled to end at approximately 11:30 a.m. PT. Jeffrey Bassa, Christian Gonzalez, Brandon Dorlus, and Steve Stephens IV are slated to speak with reporters.
