Oregon TE Pharaoh Brown remains hospitalized in Salt Lake City
After going down with a serious right leg injury against Utah Saturday night, Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown remains hospitalized in Salt Lake City. According to The Oregonian, Brown was in stable condition as of Sunday evening “in the surgical intensive care unit” at the University of Utah Hospital.
The junior went down during the fourth quarter of the Ducks’ 51-27 win when he stumbled after stepping on a teammate’s foot. As he stumbled forward, Brown extended his right leg to regain his balance but he landed awkwardly and his leg buckled.
Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich, who described the injury as “significant,” said that Brown is out for the season. He is expected to undergo surgery this week.
“Going forward it’s a long process but that dude is a competitive guy and it’s already galvanized our team,” Helfrich said, “We walk into the locker room last night coming off the field and it was an unbelievable situation, a tough situation and just reveals more and more about our guys that we like.”
Helfrich said some of Brown’s family was at his side in Salt Lake City along with Horace Raymond, Oregon’s associate director for player development. Kim Terrell, Oregon’s director for athletic medicine, will also fly to Utah on Monday, Helfrich said.
“He needs to go through a couple of procedures here in the next three-to-seven days approximately to get as best a foundation as can be had going forward for his long-term prognosis, which we don’t know at this point at all,” Helfrich said.
In 10 games for the Ducks, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Brown caught 25 passes for 420 yards and six touchdowns. Backups Johnny Mundt and Evan Baylis will likely see increased playing time in Brown’s absence. The two have combined for just three catches for 39 yards this season.
"We have a ton of confidence in those guys," Helfrich said. "Between those two and Koa Ka'ai, they've played a lot and we'll be ready to rock come Colorado."
The win over Utah clinched a Pac-12 North title for the Ducks. Now 9-1 on the season and on a bye this week, Helfrich’s team will round out the regular season with a home game against Colorado and a road game with Oregon State.
For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
