After Oregon's 38-3 loss to Washington on Saturday, Ducks coach Willie Taggart said he hoped that sophomore quarterback Justin Herbert would be available to play next week when the Ducks returned from their bye against Arizona.

As of now, however, it's still too early to tell.

During an interview for The Oregonian/OregonLive's Official Visit podcast, Taggart said that Herbert had X-rays earlier this week on his fractured collarbone and that his status was still to be determined for next Saturday's game.

"It's healing really good," Taggart said. "It was about six to eight weeks of healing process. This is Week 6. Next week will be Week 7. He's coming along."

The Ducks have lost four of their last five games. The downturn has has taken a successful 4-1 start to the Taggart era and thrown the Ducks into a situation where they need to win one of their last two games to become bowl eligible.

In the Ducks' loss to Washington, Oregon again struggled to throw the ball, as freshman Braxton Burmeister accounted for 31 yards and an interception through the air. Herbert has been practicing for the last few weeks, but hasn't received the OK yet for game action.

"We'll check and see where it is next week," Taggart said. "Ability-wise, he can go out and play. He could have played last week. With his bone healing, we want to make sure we do right by him and not go too early and have him reinjure himself. He has a heck of a future ahead of him and you don't want to affect that. As much as you want to win, you want to make sure you do right by the young man."

(Listen to more from Taggart on Friday morning on The Official Visit.)

-- Tyson Alger

talger@oregonian.com

@tysonalger