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⚑ GAMEDAY
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⚑ GAMEDAY Though Jake Hanson didn’t start in 2015, he has experience practicing with the first and second teams. (Samuel Marshall)
CENTER JAKE HANSON BUILDS ON REDSHIRT SEASON
➡ WILL
Oregon appeared to be starting from scratch at center following the departure of fifth-year senior Matt Hegarty last season. Both Hegarty and quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. were injured in their last collegiate game – a 47-41, triple-overtime collapse to TCU in the Alamo Bowl last January. The two watched from the sidelines as their replacements, backup center Doug Brenner and backup quarterback Jeff Lockie, fell apart in the second half. Aside from Lockie, several errant snaps from Brenner factored into preventing Oregon’s offense from getting in sync. Onlookers saw a glimpse of Oregon’s future at center, and it wasn’t pretty. Behind Brenner, only redshirt freshman Jake Hanson had practiced extensively in the position. But Oregon’s staff didn’t want to waste Hanson’s redshirt on one game, and opted not to bring him into the Alamo Bowl. Instead, Hanson spent his freshman season patiently waiting for his opportunity. Although Hanson didn’t get any in-game experience in 2015, he spent plenty of time practicing with the first and second teams, which, according to head coach Mark Helfrich, gave Hanson a leg up learning Oregon’s system. As Oregon’s spring practice nears its ending, Hanson is relishing the position. “Practicing with the ones and twos last year gave me an opportunity to get a good grasp of the offense and I’ve just been building on that ever since,” Hanson said. “Now I feel like I’ve been running this offense a lot longer than a year.” Hanson’s transition to Oregon’s starting center seemed unlikely when he first arrived on campus last fall. The Eureka, California, native never played center in high school, and he expected to continue his more familiar offensive tackle position in college.
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But Oregon needed a long-term plan at center. Hegarty, who came to Oregon as a graduate transfer from Notre Dame in 2015, only had one year of college eligibility remaining. Early last fall, Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood took notice of Hanson’s quick grasp of the offense. Greatwood asked Hanson to take snaps at center before practice one particular morning, and his new role stuck. “It was hard at first because snapping the ball is a lot different when you haven’t done it at any other position before,” Hanson said. “But it got easier as [time] went on.” Throughout last season, teammates on both sides of the ball noticed Hanson’s patience paying off. “That guy is an animal – already,” sophomore defensive tackle Canton Kaumatule said. “All the starters from last year knew week-by-week he was getting a lot better. I’m really excited for him this year.” The Ducks return two starters, Tyrell Crosby and Cameron Hunt, from last year’s offensive line. Hanson appears to be the favorite to win the center job, while Jake Pisarcik will likely fill one of the guard positions and could also spell Hanson in the middle. After losing experience across the line, the unit has experienced growing pains this spring. But with several new players emerging, including Hanson, it’s simply a matter of improving rapport. “Lot of new faces on the offensive line, lot of the freshmen coming up and starting to play,” Pisarcik said. “I think it’s just going to take a little bit with the chemistry, to get everyone aware of what’s going on … As we keep practicing, the chemistry will build.”
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ON THE COVER
Wide receiver/safety Charles Nelson makes a run in last year’s Spring Game on May 2. Photo by Taylor Wilder.
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⚑ GAMEDAY Stanford Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan (8) leaps over Oregon Ducks safety Tyree Robinson (3) and scores. (Cole Elsasser)
2016 STORYLINES: The quarterback question ➡ GUS
MORRIS, @JUSTGUSMORRIS
FOOTBALL SEASON IS STILL MONTHS AWAY, but the Pac-12 isn’t short on storylines. Spring – for much of the conference – has raised more questions than answers. Will Stanford continue to have success with a new quarterback? Will Washington be a surprise contender in the Pac-12 North? Can Anu Solomon have a bounce-back year for Arizona? Will Dakota Prukop be the answer for Oregon?
HERE’S A FEW STORYLINES THE EMERALD THINKS YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO:
CAL IN THE POST-GOFF ERA
In his three years at Cal, Jared Goff set about every school record a quarterback can set. Now that he’s gone, Cal will need to fill that void. They have plenty of options with back-ups Chase Forrest and Ross Bowers returning, not to mention true freshman Max Gilliam coming in. But the real issue will be productivity. It’s hard to replace someone who threw for over 4700 yards and 43 touchdowns but Cal is searching, and hoping. We’ll see if and how they can recover.
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COULD WASHINGTON BE A SURPRISE CONTENDER IN THE PAC-12 NORTH?
Since the division of the Pac-12 into two entities, North and South, Oregon and Stanford have dominated the former. Midway through the spring, those two are in good position to claim that title once again. But this time there is a hint of uncertainty; both programs graduated their quarterbacks last year. This crucial change could leave the door open for Washington. The Huskies have 15 starters returning from a very young team last year. Although they need some work offensively, they are also retaining the core of the league’s top defense. If quarterback Jake Browning can add to an impressive second half of last season, Washington could be a scary team come fall.
UCLA AND THE ROSEN ONE
All things considered, Josh Rosen had a pretty successful freshman campaign at UCLA. He almost led a beat up Bruins team to a conference title game, which for a true freshman is impressive. Rosen did have his fair share of trials and tribulations last season. But with a year of growth and experience under his belt, it would be surprising if he was not one of the best – if not the best – quarterback in the conference when everything is said and done.
IS DAKOTA PRUKOP THE ANSWER FOR THE DUCKS?
Graduate transfer Dakota Prukop is on campus and practicing for Oregon. For the man he’s replacing, Vernon Adams Jr., that didn’t happen until after summer. Yet despite being rushed into the offense, Adams found incredible success (when he was healthy) under center last year. But Prukop wants to be at the helm this season though, he’s going to have to earn it. Redshirt freshman Travis Jonsen has been sharing reps with Prukop and has looked impressive so far in the spring. Only time will tell who wins the coveted starting spot for the Ducks.
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⚑ GAMEDAY
OREGON’S quarterback competition ➡ KENNY
Travis Jonsen (11) makes a pass at an open practice at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. (Samuel Marshall)
Quarterback Dakota Prukop speaks to the media. (Samuel Marshall)
➡ JARRID
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN THE SPRING GAME
J A C O B Y, @ K E N N Y J A C O B Y
ships with his teammates and has command of the offense. He said he’s not waiting around to become a leader. “Guys and coaches are just looking for someone they can trust, and trust comes from doing your job,” Prukop said. “When they see a guy who’s consistently doing his job — every play, every down — then that’s who’s going to take over.” The Ducks are in a unique situation in that the three quarterbacks presumably at the top of the depth chart — Prukop, Jonsen and Terry Wilson — have no playing experience at the Division I level. Those three have taken the majority of the repetitions behind center, while the two quarterbacks with playing experience — Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie — have taken a back seat. Helfrich said Lockie and Alie have been playing the role of “half-mentor, half-wideout,” because drilling more than three quarterbacks at a time is “impossible.” “That was a tough and easy decision to make — just trying to flush things and move forward,” he said. While Helfrich continues to search for leadership at the quarterback position, he said Royce Freeman and Charles Nelson, who are not “naturally vocal leaders,” have stepped into that role.
Entering Saturday’s spring football game, the frontrunner of the quarterback competition is about as clear-cut as it was the first week: Not very. After the team’s scrimmage April 25, head coach Mark Helfrich said the quarterbacks “just didn’t come out with any kind of urgency or leadership.” He described the quarterbacks’ play as inconsistent and said the consistency aspect hasn’t come into play for any of them. “That is not uncommon of a competition-type situation, but that’s also where you’d like to kind of see someone step up, and I anticipate that happening,” he said. Helfrich said Dakota Prukop and Travis Jonsen are doing things “a little bit more consistently than the others.” He will not name a starter by the spring game, but said he would like to see one of the quarterbacks “take the bull by the horns” and “[run] the show in practice” in the weeks leading up. “All the guys have shown glimmers of that, and that just goes back to their own comfort level and confidence in what they’re doing,” Helfrich said Prukop has said repeatedly he will feel he’s done his job in spring camp if, by the end, he has built strong relation-
D E N N E Y, @ J A R R I D _ D E N N E Y
•
The final spring practice for Oregon was also draft day for the Ducks’ coaches.
•
The spring game will kickoff on April 30 at 11 a.m. at Autzen Stadium and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
•
Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood and defensive coordinator Brady Hoke will coach one team during this Saturday’s spring game. Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick, linebackers coach Don Pellum and defensive line coach Ron Aiken will coach the other team.
•
According to coaches, it wasn’t necessarily a “first pick, last pick” scenario when it came to picking players for each positions.
•
Quarterbacks Dakota Prukop, Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie will play on one team and
Terry Wilson and Travis Jonsen will play on the other. Lubick wouldn’t tip his hand as to who the first quarterback taken was. •
“That is top secret,” Lubick said laughing. “The quarterback battle has been fun because it’s going back and forth. [Prukop and Jonsen] are both doing a great job, and they’re both getting better. Coach Yost has done a great job with the learning curve on those guys.”
•
Pharaoh Brown did not confirm whether he will take the field on Saturday, but did say his family and girlfriend will be in attendance. “The chances that I will be playing on Saturday — I set that that goal for myself,” Brown said. “It would be a big thing to be able to come out here and take a few snaps at the line of scrimmage.”
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đ&#x;“– COVER
PACKING ON THE ➥ JUSTIN
B
WISE, @JUSTINFWISE
rady Hoke’s new 4-3 defense made a number of Oregon defenders feel like freshmen;
everything was new and foreign again. There was a lot to learn too, considering several defenders this spring gave different analogies to illustrate how fat their new playbook is — most notably from defensive lineman Jalen Jelks, who compared it to a Harry Potter book, according to ESPN.
Pratik Patel, Oregon’s director of sports nutrition, is responsible for making sure athletes’ nutrition plans help them stay healthy and maximize their athletic abilities. (Ryan Kang)
THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM NOW INCLUDES TWO NUTRITIONISTS, FOUR FULL-TIME COOKS, A FEW SPORTS DIETICIANS AS WELL AS SEVERAL FOOD SERVICES THAT ARE CONSISTENTLY OPERATING THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
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But it wasn’t just the playbook that took on added bulk this offseason: Four individuals switched from outside linebacker to defensive lineman, and because of it, were asked to pack on weight. Easiest way to do it? Well, as Oregon’s Justin Hollins simply put it: “Eat more.� And linebackers-turned-defensive-linemen Eddie Heard, Torrodney Prevot, Cody Carriger and Hollins certainly have had the resources in place to do just that. After the NCAA passed legislation that allowed for unlimited meals and snacks in 2014, the University of Oregon athletic department committed an additional $750,000 to its nutrition program. The program now includes two nutritionists, four full-time cooks, a few sports dieticians as well as several food services that are consistently operating throughout the day. The services, which serve about 500 studentathletes at Oregon, include either breakfast or brunch options from 7 a.m. to noon at the Hatfield Dowlin-Complex or snack options from noon to 4 p.m. at their various fueling stations — in places such as the football locker room, at Matthew Knight Arena and at Hayward Field. Oregon’s not alone in this regard either. Director of sports nutrition Pratik Patel says the field has “exploded� in the past few years due to the deregulation of meal services. “Now we can do so much more for our athletes,� Patel said in his Casanova Center office, filled with memorabilia and boxes of Nutri-Grain bars and trail mix. The athletes seem to be taking advantage of this too. Prevot gained 23 pounds this offseason and said he’s weighing in close to 245 pounds, despite being listed at 225. Hollins said he’s gained about 8 pounds and Carriger, thanks to “a lot of peanut butter,� has gained upwards of 12 pounds. But the process for how they’re gaining weight isn’t like the old days, in which a heavy intake of milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and steaks was the common plan. As Patel notes, “A
POUNDS
Torrodney Prevot (86) works on some Chick fil A after the 2015 Rose Bowl. Prevot is one of the linebackers-turned-defensive-linemen putting on weight for the upcoming season. (Ryan Kang)
lot of what we want to do to is make sure they stay healthy.” In addition, a lot of it is based on each individual’s nutrition plan, and just as the defense had to adjust to Hoke’s new scheme, the converted defensive linemen had to adapt to a new diet. Carriger knew this type of change might occur after Hoke was hired. Sure enough, Carriger was participating in winter conditioning one day when Oregon defensive line coach Ron Aiken approached him and said, “Hey Cody, you’re with me.” It didn’t take long for Patel to approach him either. “I think it was day of, [Patel] said, ‘Hey you’ve got to come see me, we’ve got to figure out a meal plan, get you all the stuff you need,’ ” Carriger recalled. It set in motion what Carriger describes as an “eat, eat, eat” plan. Carriger says his typical day consists of a breakfast at the facility — options include madeto-order omelets and eggs (with an omelet of the day), fresh baked pastries and breads, made to order waffles, a potato option of the day, pancakes and French toast, a breakfast entrée special, a non-breakfast entrée special, deli meat bar featuring meat cooked and sliced in house, fresh fruit and fruit smoothies and full salad bar — a lunch with a protein shake, a snack and a shake, dinner with a shake and a banana with peanut butter and a shake before he goes to bed.
Prevot’s plan this winter has looked similar. The senior said he’s kept to a regimen in which he eats about four meals with snacks inbetween. “Even if I don’t feel like eating, I know I have to have something consistently on me,” Prevot said. The weight-gain plan hasn’t been as drastic for others. Hollins said it feels simple, that only his intake of protein shakes has increased. Regardless, the three are all hovering around 245 pounds now, and expect to inch closer to 250 by the time fall camp starts. And while Carriger’s plan may sound like Patel merely asked him to eat as much as possible, the system in place is much more complex and defined. It consists of understanding the individual’s muscle mass and body fat percentage, which then helps Patel gauge how much weight a player can put on without gaining “sloppy weight.” It also includes weekly data Patel receives to ensure the player is heading in a healthy direction. Ultimately, Patel lets the individual know, based on responsibilities such as weight training, meetings and practice, when and how the nutrition team can provide them the essentials they may need. And it’s not just for football. “We’re building a really good structure,” Patel said. “Making sure we have enough staff to cover all the athletes. Goal is to take it to the next level now that we have product and staff to
be there for them one-on-one. Make sure we’re present at every practice, every lift.” The program has come a long way. Patel remembers longtime Oregon strength and conditioning coach Jim Radcliffe telling him about the soda machines that used to be at the university’s athletic facilities. He’s also set up a system in which his staff “oversees everything.” In addition, dieticians and chefs are available to offer educational and lifestyle nutrition tips — which may mean going to the grocery story with an athlete or offering live-meal coaching when the facilities are serving food. “We did not have resources like this in the NFL,” said Aiken, who was the defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals from 2007-2012. Not many college programs have resources like these either. “Some schools are still trying to fight for a full time dietician or someone who can manage that budget,” Patel said. “That’s already been developed, now we’re really just finetuning it.” Prevot, Carriger and Hollins are just a few examples of the system’s development. Gaining weight, as Carriger said, can be a “slow process.” But that process, which includes both a nutritional plan and myriad of food options at his disposal every weekday, appears to be an effective one. “It’s a feather in our cap,” Patel said. “We definitely have them taken care of.” T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2 8 , 2 0 1 6
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KIRK MERRITT
⚑ GAMEDAY
HOW THE LOUISIANA NATIVE IS MAKING WAVES AT OREGON
(Adam Eberhardt)
➡ JARRID
D E N N E Y, @ J A R R I D _ D E N N E Y
In the last decade, Oregon has produced a long list of speedy playmakers at the receiver position. De’Anthony Thomas, Josh Huff and Bralon Addison are all former Ducks who thrived as undersized pass catchers. Kirk Merritt could be the next Oregon player of that mold, and he may be the most athletic of the bunch. “A lot of people call him like a Josh Huff type of guy because he’s so strong and fast,” Oregon running back Tony Brooks-James said. “He’s one of those guys who can make an explosive play and turn a game around.” Merritt’s speed translates to the track. He, along with Brooks-James and Devon Allen, has been splitting his time between football workouts and track practice this spring. Merritt, Brooks-James and Allen form threefourths of Oregon’s 4x100-meter relay team and ran a winning time of 40.06 seconds at the Pepsi Invitational on April 9. The difference is that
Merritt is racing at 205 pounds while Allen and Brooks-James each weigh around 185. “When you factor in his size, the explosiveness and his lifting numbers ... He’s our strongest wide out and is off the charts,” Oregon offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said. “I don’t know many guys in college football that are his size and can run a 10.60 100-meter dash.” A true sophomore from Destrehan, Louisiana, Merritt made waves during the summer of 2014 when he won the SPARQ National Championship at the The Opening, an elite football combine held annually at the Nike headquarters in Beaverton. Merritt registered a score of 147.60 at the event. His feats included a 4.43 second 40-yard dash time and a 45.5 inch vertical jump. For reference, 2015 Heisman winner Derrick Henry registered a score of 144.60 in 2012. “[Merritt] is right up there ... He’s probably one of the better athletes in the country,” Lubick said. He was recruited as an all-purpose back, but spent most of last season at the inside receiver
position where he caught five passes for 61 yards. During the spring, Lubick has brainstormed ways to get Merritt more involved and add his talents to one of the deepest skill-position groups in the nation. One way of doing so has been by lining him up at the outside receiver spot during the spring. It’s a position that the 5-foot-11” Merritt played scarcely in high school, and one where he has the chance to thrive, just as Huff did, in Oregon’s quick-read offense. In total, Oregon has at least nine players who will be fighting for playing time at receiver this fall. “It’s Oregon; it’s very, very competitive,” Merritt said. “We always encourage each other and try to make each other better each and every day before practice and just get after it every day.” Oregon already has an embarrassment of riches at the skill-positions, and Merritt could prove to be the most intriguing piece of Lubick’s offense this season. T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2 8 , 2 0 1 6
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DOWN TO BUSINESS WITH BRADY HOKE
Contrary to what defensive lineman Torrodney Prevot said about Brady Hoke, the new Oregon defensive coordinator deliberately stated he has “no swag” when talking to the media during spring practices. Regardless, Prevot’s comments seemed to indicate the new type of intensity that the former Michigan head coach has brought to spring practices this year. Several players have appeared encouraged by Hoke’s loud voice and sense of urgency on the practice field, which has translated to an energy level that head coach Mark Helfrich said he liked. “He’s all in your face,” Prevot said. “He wants you to run. We’re actually running on the field, running off the field. When we go to warm up, we have to run on the field full sprint.” But the positive energy levels won’t matter if Oregon doesn’t experience progress on defense this year. Hoke gave an honest assessment about the unit. “We’re a long way from being the defense we imagine,” he said. Hoke talked more about his first couple weeks as the defensive coordinator, the gradual installation of his new 4-3 system and his time spent in Eugene — which he says has consisted of being on the turf fields and at the Hatfield Dowlin Complex. “That’s about where I’ve been,” Hoke added. Emerald: What are your impressions after working with the team this spring? Brady Hoke: We got a lot to get better at. We got a great staff. I really like all the coaches, terminology, just the whole one-gap, two-gap getting up the field. We got a lot of work ahead of us, the kids have been receptive. E: Do you feel like you have the bodies to do the 4-3? BH: I think right now it’s too early to say. There’s some length, which is good, there’s some athleticism, which is good. You play the game, you have pads on, it’s a physical game and you’ve got to be physical up front. E: The players say your loud voice has created the intensity that they maybe need. How have you seen them respond to you?
BH: The kids have been great. We’re trying to hold each other accountable for everything, and really when we become what we want to become, it’s their voices – it won’t be mine. So it’s a transition and learning for everybody. E: How is it going settling into your new role? BH: It’s fun. We’ve got a great staff and I love defense, that’s where my heart has always been. E: What changes have you been trying to make your first few months here? BH: I’m just being who I am as a coach. We expect to get better every day as coaches. If we’re not more competitive than the coaches at USC, we’re making a mistake. I think just the work ethic the guys have shown in what we’ve done, there’s a lot of positives. We’re still not the team we need to be. E: Don Pellum didn’t really have a playbook, and the guys have been comparing your playbook to a Harry Potter book. Have you gotten much feedback about your playbook? BH: My skills in technology aren’t very good. I need paper and I need to see things that way. There’s a ton of defense we could run and put in. E: Canton Kaumatule came here with a lot of expectations. He said the other day he’s really excited to play in your defense. How do you see him fitting into your scheme? BH: Well, I think from a physical standpoint and what he looks like, he should be a guy who can be a three or a five. The one thing that’s held him back is he’s been beat up a little bit. If you’re not out there you can’t be evaluated, and if you can’t be evaluated you can’t play. Hopefully he’ll get back because he needs to progress a lot. E: What do you try to get out in the practice field and what’s your coaching style? BH: There’s a lot of honesty and we told them that we’re going to coach you hard, and we’re going to be consistent. Personally, getting out on the field is my funnest time being with those kids. Mrs. Hoke doesn’t like that, but that really is. You can’t play the game if you don’t have energy, I don’t know how you could coach it if you don’t have it. BY JUSTIN WISE, @JUSTINFWISE
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PHARAOH BROWN: RETURNING TO THE FIELD
Pharaoh Brown plans to play in Oregon’s first game of the 2016 season in September after recovering from a near career-ending leg injury. (Taylor Wilder)
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regon tight end Pharaoh Brown couldn’t walk a year ago, months after he suffered a leg injury so gruesome that ESPN elected not to air it during a national TV broadcast. During fall camp last season, a reporter asked Brown why he still played football. Brown responded, “The same reason you’re a journalist — it’s what I love.” Three surgeries and months of rehabilitation did not dissuade Brown from returning to the sport he loves. Now he’s not only running on the field, but “running like the old Pharaoh,” according to offensive coordinator Matt Lubick. That’s the “old Pharaoh” who was named first-team Pac-12 All-Conference and caught six touchdowns despite missing the team’s final five games in 2014. “I’ve been very impressed [with Brown’s progress],” Lubick said after a recent spring football practice. “It’s interesting because even though he’s away from football basically for a whole year, mentally he’s as sharp as ever.” Brown is not pushing himself to return to “game shape” any sooner than his health permits. The fifth-year senior knows he still has plenty of time to get stronger before Oregon’s first game of the 2016 season in September, for which he said he will be ready.
During fall camp last season, a reporter asked Brown why he still played football. Brown responded, “The same reason you’re a journalist — it’s what I love.”
“Sometimes I get ahead of myself and want to do a lot [on the field],” Brown said. “Last year I was on two crutches in a bed. Now I’m running on the field, just being grateful and giving thanks.” Brown faced the possibility of amputation after he left Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium in an ambulance during a game against Utah. After stepping on the ankle of a teammate with his left foot during a goal line play, Brown planted his right foot so awkwardly it caused an artery in his knee to stretch, which cut off the blood flow to his shin. He was bleeding internally, although that wasn’t apparent until a doctor, who didn’t have time to introduce himself due to the urgency of Brown’s condition, recommended emergency surgery.
Brown’s injury, which he compared to those of Marcus Lattimore and Shaun Livingston — “you always remember those type of injuries,” he said — caused him not only to miss significant time on the field, but also in the classroom. He missed the entire ensuing winter academic term while he recovered. Now, Brown competes in one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills. To prevent overexertion during practice, Brown wears a GPS device with a live feed that streams directly to an app on the phone of one of Oregon’s sports science specialists. That way, Brown’s activity can be monitored at any given second, so he knows when to call it quits if he pushes himself harder than he should. Lubick said Brown participates in all facets of practice, but that coaches are being “overcautious” with him until they know he’s 100 percent. His number of reps, though, has been increasing. Head coach Mark Helfrich said the biggest obstacle Brown faces is confidence, which goes for any athlete who’s suffered as severe an injury as Brown has. Functionally, Helfrich said, “he’s getting there.” Brown is confident in his eventual return to full strength, but makes time to “sit down and look back and be thankful.” T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2 8 , 2 0 1 6
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