Football Practice Report: Sept. 4

Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads

The Oregon football team devotes a sizable chunk of its playbook to schemes involving three wide receivers, and the Ducks have utilized multiple running backs at times in recent seasons.

Given the injury last week to starting tight end Cam McCormick, conventional wisdom might have suggested that, moving forward, those personnel groupings would play more prominent roles. But after spending much of the preseason working on packages that use multiple tight ends, the Ducks opened practice Tuesday in a set using two of them, a reflection of the team's depth even in the wake of McCormick's injury.

"Everyone's gotta step up and make the plays now," said junior Ryan Bay, who was with the first-team offense for the portion of practice Tuesday open to media, along with veteran Jacob Breeland. "Jake's already a playmaker, and now Kano (Dillon) and I gotta step up and make plays, fill that role."

McCormick, the sophomore from Bend, had an outstanding preseason camp to earn the starting nod Saturday against Bowling Green. He spent the previous two years working to make himself as effective a blocker as he is a receiving threat, but had only one reception Saturday before being sidelined for the rest of the year by a broken bone in his leg.

The Ducks' depth is such, however, that they still can use sets with multiple tight ends. Breeland is a proven threat at stretching the field, who likewise has toiled to make himself a more effective player at the line of scrimmage. Dillon is a graduate transfer who does both roles well, and is growing increasingly comfortable after only a month on campus at Oregon.

And then there's Bay, the native of Tigard, who made his UO debut as a non-scholarship guy in 2016, earned one starting assignment in 2017 and now looks ready to take yet another step as a contributor for the Ducks in the wake of McCormick's injury.

"Ryan will prove (himself), for sure," Breeland said. "He's a great athlete, he works super hard, and he's super athletic. He'll add a lot."

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For Bay, it's a week of mixed emotions. He's excited to potentially played a more prominent role, but said it was "devastating" to learn the extent of McCormick's injury.

"That's my brother; you never want to see a guy go down, especially one at your own position group, who's a really good friend of mine," Bay said. "It's heartbreaking; all prayers of mine to him and his family. Our season's going to be for him, making big plays and stepping up for him. We're ready for that."

The Ducks also have converted defensive end Hunter Kampmoyer available at tight end. And true freshman Spencer Webb has proven himself a tough assignment for pass defenders so far this fall, as he works to get his blocking up to par.

For that, he might turn to Bay, a big, tough defender whose nimble feet are the envy of his teammates.

"He played basketball a lot growing up, so his feet are outstanding," Breeland said. "I'll always learn from his footwork. He always has the perfect footwork, blocks really hard, and he's going to be a good factor for our team."

As a native of the Portland area, Bay is excited about the possibility of a bigger role this week, against a Portland State team that will feature several familiar faces. He'll be competing not only against the Viks, but players at receiver and running back who want to crack the lineup instead of an extra tight end.

"Whoever's making plays, we'll keep them in to keep playing," Bay said. "We want to be those guys. But ultimately, it's who helps the offense win and get better."

Other highlights: When the Ducks went "good on good" for the first time, Ugochukwu Amadi did a nice job containing Jaylon Redd on a swing pass, and Dillon Mitchell got behind the defense to haul in a deep ball from Justin Herbert. Braxton Burmeister tucked a ball in to Brenden Schooler, a nice throw-and-catch despite tight coverage from Kahlef Hailassie. … In an 11-on-11 passing period, Mattrell McGrew and Haki Woods Jr. had interceptions on the defensive field. … Woods downed a punt at the 4-yard line during special teams drills, a nice bounceback rep after making contact with a returner the rep before. …

The last "good on good" period gave the offense two downs to move the chains. The first group did so, on a run by CJ Verdell and a completion from Herbert to Bay, but the No. 1 defense evened the score when Isaac Slade-Matautia broke up a pass on the next rep. The No. 2 defense had the edge in its reps, but the No. 3 offense responded in kind, thanks in part to some hard running by Travis Dye. … Isaah Crocker did his best Odell Beckham Jr. impression in a rep for the scout team at one point, making a one-handed catch that got the sideline's attention.

Other observations: A big focus this week is on starting faster, and the defensive coaches set that tone right off the bat in Tuesday's practice. Among the early issues that plagued the Ducks on Saturday was poor tackling; during the first 11-on-11 period Tuesday, conducted at "thud" tempo, co-defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt demanded of his players, "No more shoulders! I'm tired of shoulders! Wrap up!" And the guys on the back end were being hounded, too, by co-defensive coordinator Keith Heyward, about not only running through their coverage assignments against the scout team, but making plays on the ball as well. "We let the scout team catch balls on us, guess what the opposing team's gonna do?" Heyward said. …

Deommodore Lenoir wore a red non-contact jersey but participated in practice. Linebacker La'Mar Winston Jr. did not participate in drills during the portion of practice open to media. … During those periods, Jalen Jelks and Adrian Jackson took reps at outside linebacker, and safety Steve Stephens worked down at the "Duck" linebacker position. Keith Simms did drills with the inside linebacker group, so he and Jackson essentially swapped roles. … Edge rusher Bryson Young took reps both with the travel squad and the scout-team defense.

Post-practice interviews:

Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo

Junior quarterback Justin Herbert