By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Helmets only

Jeff Lockie's role with the Oregon football team may have changed but his perspective on the start of fall camp hasn't, entering what's now the quarterback's redshirt junior season with the program.

Working to ascend from Marcus Mariota's backup to the starter when the Ducks open the season Sept. 5 against Eastern Washington, Lockie took the field for the start of camp Monday afternoon. In the post-practice huddle, UO coach Mark Helfrich told the team their effort was there, though execution and conditioning could improve, and Lockie agreed.

“My fourth year here, not much has changed – the first one's always a little chaotic,” the quarterback said. “I thought the effort was there, and we'll try to clean it up from there.”

Coaches really harped on tempo the first time the Ducks broke up for 11-on-11 drills. That meant getting in a ton of reps during those periods, but also that some of the young guys at times weren't sure when they were supposed to be on the field and when they should come off, or where to line up for the next snap.

Lockie referred to the chaos as “substitution mass confusion,” and it improved over the course of the afternoon. By day's end, Helfrich judged practice to have been “decent,” a jumping off point for the month leading up to the opener.

“The first day has to be kind of your worst day as far as execution, and then every day from day one should get better,” Lockie said. “All we can do now is take this as day one and then tomorrow and this week, keep getting better.”

Highlights: Lockie was locked in right off the bat, going over the top to Byron Marshall for a touchdown pass of about 35 yards on the first rep of 7-on-7. That began a trend of Lockie and the first-team offense generally executing a solid gain on the first rep of most drills. … The only turnover I saw over the course of the day was an interception by Reggie Daniels, of Taylor Alie early in 11-on-11 drills. …

The player of the day was probably Darren Carrington. He had an acrobatic diving catch of a ball that popped loose as he neared the ground, which Carrington said he then trapped with his legs for the catch. Later, he turned back and leaped to get to an underthrown deep ball, tipped it with one hand to keep it away from a defender and then hauled it in with the same hand while turning upfield to run after the catch. … Taj Griffin had even the defensive sidelined oohing and aahing a bit with a brilliant cut in the backfield to avoid a defender late in the day.

Other observations: Looked to me like the four captains, who oversee pre-practice stretching, were Lockie, Tyson Coleman, DeForest Buckner and Tyler Johnstone. … Pharaoh Brown was out there running around in a helmet, an awesome sight after his major injury last year. … Dylan Kane is the biggest cornerback for the Ducks that I can remember over the last few years, at 6-foot-3. He had a nice breakup of a pass from Lockie to Malik Lovette in 7-on-7. …

When Johnstone wasn't in there, the first-team offensive line, left to right, was Matt Pierson, Jake Pisarcik, Doug Brenner, Cameron Hunt and Tyrell Crosby. … Among the new offensive linemen, Calvin Throckmorton and Brady Aiello got work at tackle, while Jake Hanson and Shane Lemieux took reps at guard. …

It looks like Tui Talia, T.J. Daniel and Henry Mondeaux all are in the mix to get major reps on the D line with Buckner and Alex Balducci. Also, Austin Maloata had some nice battles today with new center Matt Hegarty. … Johnny Ragin III stuck out as a vocal leader on defense today, and Alex Ofodile looks like a guy who really benefitted from going through spring drills, and is now more comfortable entering fall camp. Just has a different presence this time out. …

I mentioned it a few times in the spring, but it really sticks out how much quicker Kani Benoit looks since last season. … Matt McFadden, a dependable scout-team offensive lineman the last couple years, has taken a medical retirement but plans to stick around the team in whatever capacity he can helping out position coach Steve Greatwood.