Duck Territory spoke with offensive tackle Andre Yruretagoyena after Monday's practice to see where he was at with his recovery from an ankle injury suffered back in September against the Michigan State Spartans.

Yruretagoyena, without a boot or brace on said ankle, talked about the path back and whether he could potentially see the field against the Stanford Cardinal.

On the ankle itself: "It feels really good. It's been weird getting the strength back in it...it's been awhile, but I don't know, it's pretty nice not having a cast or a boot on. It's been a hard workout since I've been able to do stuff like that, just getting my strength back in it."

On if there's any one sticking point or physical hurdle in rehab: "It was isolated for so long, so naturally your body isn't going to trust certain movements. That's what the whole rehab portion is about – getting that trust back. It takes me maybe a try or two, but it feels great."

On whether he needs to be fully recovered to play: "I think obviously we want to be 100 percent so we can avoid the same injury happening again, but I'm going to wear whatever brace I have to wear in order to make sure this doesn't happen again."

On if he could play against Stanford: "It's pretty day-by-day right now. Not entirely sure."

On reinserting himself into the OL rotation: "The whole thing with our line is sure, there are set starters, but we rotate dudes as much as...I'm not too worried about that. I'm not sure anyone is. I'm sure there might be a couple practices where chemistry might be weird coming back, but that won't take long."

On if there's any one in-game action that will give him confidence: "That's a pretty tough question...obviously a big part of football is contact, but I feel like in the trenches, it's a lot higher...I'm not sure. I'm not scared of hitting. I don't think it's really...I honestly don't know."

On blocking out any fear of being rolled on again: "You can either go into it with the mindset of playing it safe and twinkle-toeing around, or you can go out and play and usually play. That's the mindset I'm going with."

On his goals for the season: "My goal now is to obviously be back, then to not have any issues after that. That's my main goal right now, just keep doing well in school, and to not let this affect me mentally, which it hasn't."

On if there's any danger of a recurrence: "I don't think it's going to be a recurring deal. We have great trainers, and our rehab programs are awesome. I don't think it's going to be an issue after this."

On being a "coach" while injured: "It's kind of hard to do it with the older guys –Â I don't want to say we're coaching the older guys, more like we're throwing our two cents in, little things. With the younger guys, it's obviously a lot more comfortable."

On how he handled it mentally: "I had a pretty rough week the first week after, but since then I've been fine. I keep busy, I stay up...you can't really get down on yourself in situations like this. I had my injuries in high school, so it hasn't been mentally...this is just a minor setback."