Jacob Archer:

Walking into today’s practice session, something caught my eye. Oregon was across the practice field so I couldn’t see the players very well, but I saw a dark blue jersey that a select few were wearing. Walking over to the other side of the field and seeing them up close, it was a basic blue nike jersey. And no, it’s not some new uniform the ducks are going to be wearing, but rather guys dressed up to replicate Auburn. I saw the jerseys yesterday, but no one was wearing them. Now at the start of practice there was about 20 guys dressed up in them. It’s officially Auburn preparation time for the ducks.

Tight ends Jacob Breeland and Cam McCormick both remained limited today at practice, but both appear to be moving better compared to next week. It looks like they are both close to being back to fully participating in practice.

Wide receiver Juwan Johnson was absent from practice today, with the severity of his injury currently unknown. Wide Receiver Lance Wilhoite was also absent from the start of practice today.

Tight end Spencer Webb was warming up and practicing with the wide receivers today. This move makes sense with multiple experienced tight ends ahead of him on the depth chart, and losing Mycah Pittman for the start of the season. Also with no official report on Juwan Johnson’s injury, it makes sense to move Webb over to wide receiver.

Chris Anderson:

One of Oregon football’s biggest additions over the offseason was a nonparticipant at practice today, confirming yesterday’s rumors. Penn State transfer Juwan Johnson, who is expected to be a veteran presence amongst a young wide receiver corps, was not on the field for warmups during Wednesday’s media availability. Though official word is yet to be released on the extent of Johnson’s injury, his absence is the latest blow to a wide receiver unit that has seen a fair share of injuries of late.

Senior Brenden Schooler, freshman Mycah Pittman and freshman JR Waters will miss the first few games of the season, and depending on Johson’s injury Oregon will hope redshirt freshman Bryan Addison can continue his growth alongside juniors Johnny Johnson III, Jaylon Redd and Justin Collins. Injuries may also open up opportunities for freshman receivers Josh Delgado and Lance Wilhoite to make an early impact. Redshirt sophomore Daewood Davis, a wide receiver prospect out of high school who moved to cornerback in the offseason, may also see his number called on the offensive side of the ball, something cornerbacks coach Donte Williams alluded to on Tuesday.

Fortunately not all things were negative for the Ducks on the injury front, as both Jacob Breeland and Cam McCormick continued progress towards full health, though both were still going through limited warmups on the side. Breeland in particular looked to be mobile, perhaps showing that he has shrugged off what was bugging him last week. If Oregon remains limited at wide receiver before their opener against Auburn, they’ll need their tight end unit to step up, and in what limited drills the media was able to watch, redshirt freshman Spencer Webb did show some nice hands and a good burst.

OTHER PRACTICE NOTES

This was the media’s final opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Ducks this week, with preparations for Auburn really getting underway. Urgency is becoming a factor and you can definitely tell that everybody just wants to get to playing football.

It never rains in Autzen Stadium but the weather did begin to sour towards the start of practice, not that Oregon will experience adverse conditions against Auburn in the climate-controlled AT&T Stadium.