Oregon Practice Report: Ducks dig into prep for Eastern Washington
On Tuesday after practice, running back Sean Dollars said something that I think a lot of Oregon Ducks players feel is the case.
“I feel like all the guys are on track with flipping the page, making sure we move on,” Dollars said of last weekend’s Georgia game.
That’s apparent in practice, as Oregon players are working hard to correct what went wrong against the Bulldogs, but move on in a sense so they are ready and prepared to take on a pass-happy team in Eastern Washington on Saturday night in Autzen Stadium.
For the final time this week, media members got a chance to watch Oregon practice for the first 15-20 minutes Here are some takeaways from that time:
Absent Players
Starting offensive guard Ryan Walk was not seen ahead of practice once again for the Ducks as he rehabs from an apparent knee injury that was suffered against the Georgia Bulldogs. Dan Lanning said on Monday that he got dinged up, but didn’t expect it to hold the veteran guard out for a long period of time. We will see if he is healthy enough to play on Saturday against Eastern Washington, but with a relatively non-consequential game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team give one of their starters more time to get back to full health.
Both defensive linemen Sua’ava Poti and Maceal Afaese were absent once again, which is not a surprise considering that the pair were seen sporting walking boots at the end of last week.
QB-RB-TE Completions
After another day of the “Bracket Drill,” we saw quarterbacks, running backs, and tight ends break off together for some throwing drills. While an RB went off on a wheel route, the tight end ran a short route over the middle and was asked to identify whether it was a man or zone coverage, either sitting down in the zone, or continuing across the field.
The QB/RB/TE pairings were as follows:
Bo Nix to Byron Cardwell
Bo Nix to Moliki Matavao
Bo Nix to Patrick Herbert
Ty Thompson to Terrance Ferguson
Ty Thompson to Noah Whittington
Jay Butterfield to Bucky Irving
QB Rep Distribution
It’s a small note, but there was an uneven rep distribution among quarterbacks when media members were allowed to watch practice. As you would expect, Nix was the leader in the clubhouse, getting five reps (out of 10) per side of the field, while Ty Thompson got three, and Jay Butterfield got two.
This obviously doesn’t mean as much now that we know officially that Nix is the starter, but it would have been interesting to note a week ago.
