Football Practice Report: Aug. 21
08/21/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Wednesday's practice marked 10 days until Oregon opens the season against Auburn in Arlington, Texas.
Venue: Outdoor practice fields/Moshofsky Center
Format: Full pads
It's been next man up at the receiver position for Oregon the last couple weeks. Plus the next man after that, and one or two more.
With the Ducks' season opener against Auburn now 10 days away, opportunities abound for young players at the receiver spots due to some injuries. Brenden Schooler, Mycah Pittman and JR Waters are sidelined for several weeks, and on Wednesday, graduate transfer Juwan Johnson was limited.
"Right now, we're just trying to be smart about everything," receivers coach Jovon Bouknight said. "So, a lot of precautionary movement. We're getting closer to game week, so we've just got to be smart."
If the Ducks had a game this week, Bouknight said, Johnson would be able to suit up. Because they don't play until next week, they can be conservative.
"He's going to be fine," Bouknight said. "We're expecting him back any day. We're just trying to be ready."
When camp opened, Schooler was with the No. 1 offense, Pittman was with the twos and Waters was with the threes. So the Ducks have lost a receiver at every level of the depth chart – which means other players have moved into more prominent roles.
That means redshirt freshman Bryan Addison is getting significant reps with the first team. When the first wave of wideouts needs a break, the next group includes true freshman Josh Delgado and redshirt freshman JJ Tucker.
"As a coach, it's all about development," Bouknight said. "You think about the next guy that's right behind those (injured) guys. You've got to develop that guy now; he's the starter. Obviously those are big losses for our position, but we've got some special guys."
Addison and Delgado have pressed for reps since camp began, and Bouknight said he was "very confident with our group and what we have in place right now." Tucker has been tasked with a bigger role since the injuries, and he "has shown tremendous progress since we've started camp," Bouknight said.
The losses at receiver can be further ameliorated by what is, if healthy, a deep, athletic group of tight ends. Veterans Jacob Breeland and Cam McCormick look poised to return to full-go from recent injuries, and the Ducks also have physical veterans Ryan Bay and Hunter Kampmoyer, plus athletic freshmen Spencer Webb and Patrick Herbert.
Some of those players are quite comfortable flexing out into slot positions, and Bouknight has helped coach them up when they take on those roles.
"They're just getting one-on-one coaching from a receiver standpoint," the UO assistant said. "I'm just giving those guys tips and pointers and my point of view; they're still playing the same position."
Practice highlights: Practice concluded with a two-minute drill in which the offense needed to drive to a field-goal attempt. … With the ones on the field, Justin Herbert moved the chains with a completion to Jaylon Redd, but a penalty and a sack by Adrian Jackson put the offense in a hole, and time expired before they got into field-goal range. … With the twos up, Tyler Shough moved the ball with passes to Cyrus Habibi-Likio and Webb. That got the offense into field-goal range, and after Shough took a knee to center the ball, Adam Stack came on to drill a 25-yard field goal. …
In the first team period of the day, Herbert was sharp, with completions to Johnny Johnson III and Travis Dye. Shough and the No. 2 defense were slower starters in that period. But in the next 11-on-11 drill, Shough got it going, completing balls to Addison and Delgado. The latter was a low throw that Delgado snared near the turf. … In between those completions by Shough, Habibi-Likio had to change direction on a run due to penetration by D linemen Gary Baker, Popo Aumavae and Kayvon Thibodeaux. MJ Cunningham was there on the backside to keep the running back bottled up.
Other observations: Speaking of Bay and Kampmoyer, each had a long receiving touchdown in 11-on-11 work Wednesday. Each has made his reputation the last couple years as a presence at the line of scrimmage in the run game, but they've shown multiple times this month they have the ability to factor into the passing game. … Practice began Wednesday on the outdoor fields, but after an unusual August rain storm, the Ducks moved inside. … Wednesday's practice was scheduled to be the last of this week in full pads.
Post-practice interviews:
Running backs coach Jim Mastro
Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal
Tight ends coach Bobby Williams
