Oregon Ducks' Ross Douglas Addresses Evan Stewart Injury

Douglas addressed which receivers are stepping up amid an injury to Evan Stewart and Jurrion Dickey’s suspension.

What Douglas Said Ahead Of The Fall Season:

How Personnel Changes Have Impacted Preparation:

“Football is the next man up game. Injuries are the unfortunate part of this game and Evan Stewart’s a great player. But everyone looks at the player that we lost. I look at the young man that we lost. He was a kid who was in my office every morning at 6 a.m. curious about how he could get better studying other college receivers who are around the same body type and skill set,” Douglas said.

“I miss that part about him more so than a player. He’s around, he's in our facilities, he's in the meeting rooms, but football's the next man up game, and a lot of guys with the opportunity to step up and be able to do their thing.”

What Skillset Malik Benson Brings To The Room:

“I think Malik, the kid ever since he's been here, he got here a little bit before I did, but throughout the spring and now at training camp, I think he's gotten better every single day. He adds a speed element to our offense, and he can do a lot of things. He can run short to intermediate and deep routes. He's an older guy,” Douglas said.

“He's actually played 787 snaps in his career between Florida State and Alabama. So guy’s played a lot of football. His journey has kind of been a little rocky, ups and downs with Alabama, JUCO, Florida State, but now he's here at Oregon, so he'll be a positive contributor to this team. And I love working with him every day.”

What Gary Bryant Jr. Means To The Wide Receiver Room:

“GB means a lot, not only to the receiving room, but to myself. He's a guy, again, played a lot of football. He was hurt last year. I think he didn't play very much last year. He did in 2023 and then he played two years at USC, so he's played a lot of football and he's a guy who's done it, he's seen it. He's played in the Pac-12. He's played a little bit in the Big Ten, but now he's a guy with a lot of experience,” Douglas said.

“He knows how to practice. He the same guy every single day, like every morning I wake up, I look at GB, I know exactly what I'm getting, like, that's never gonna change with him. It's just consistency and the professionalism that is very key to myself as a coach and to our room, because I can look at him and see he does everything right. He does it the right way, and kind of follow his lead. I think that's what he brings to our room.”

How Dakorien Moore Is Different From Other Freshman:

“I just think the want to and the desire to be a good football player, I think it's there. He's gotten better as training camp went on, ever really since he's been on campus. He's just a great kid, very curious. Wants to be good, practices hard, very competitive. He's going to be a very, very good player for Oregon, and hopefully he contributes a lot this year.”

How He Guides Moore Amid High Expectations:

“Thing I learned from (coach Bill Belichick), he’d always talk about ignoring the noise, so you just got to ignore outside opinions, because at the end of day, nobody, no reporter, no nobody who makes rankings, they don't play the game. We play the game. So, we just got to focus on the process and getting better every single day. And I think he's done a good job, kind of just having tunnel vision on what's actually important, like his attitude, his effort,” Douglas said.

“Coming to practice every day, curious, asking questions, making sure that he knows what his job is, making sure he knows how to run the routes properly, making sure that he competes every single play. That's what's most important. All the national media and expectations and all that, like we ignore the noise, like we don't hear that in here. We're just here at work every day trying to get better.”

His Impressions On Dillon Gresham And Jeremiah McClellan:

“I see two young players who are getting a lot better. Weight rooms, like (coach Wilson Love) and his weight staff, they’re doing a heck of a job with him. I think Dillon Gresham is one of our strongest receivers. J-Mac, he's improved his play style. He's playing more aggressive and more physical and really more confident,” Douglas said.

“But I think confidence has been key for both of those guys. They were redshirted last year, I know J-Mac came in, he had hurt his foot, then both of them redshirted last year, kind of got a lot of reps on the scout team, but they're more confident players now, and they're showing on the practice level, so they just got to continue on that trajectory.”

How Kyler Kasper Has Competed After Injury:

“I think injury is a tough part of football and Kyler has been able to bounce back well. He's out, he's available, he's practicing right now and he's a fourth-year guy,” Douglas said.

“He just continued like these other guys, just continued to get better every single day, and just come in with the mindset like, okay, what can I attack today? What can I improve on today? How can I become a more trusted member, more dependable today? I think every day he's just trying to improve at that right there.”

How 12 Personnel Will Impact His Rotation:

“I know one thing that we're gonna do, we're gonna put the best players on the field that help us score as many points as possible so we can win games. So, whether that's 11 personnel, 12 personnel, 10 personnel, 13 personnel, doesn't matter. We have a lot of capable pieces on offense, and we're gonna put the best combination of five skill players out there that will help us score the most points.”

How Many Guys He Wants To Play:

“I'm not afraid to rotate guys. If they could play winning football and help Oregon win games every single Saturday, then they're gonna play whether that's three people, whether that's seven people. It doesn't matter the number. Like, I will rotate you in there if you can help us win, you can play.”

How Many Players He Believes Are “Above The Line:”

“You caught me on the wrong day. I'll be able to answer that tomorrow. But right now, I feel good. I feel we have a good amount of players above the line right now. But again, if you're above the line, you got to stay above the line. If you're at the line, then you need to figure out what you can do to get yourself above the line. If you're below the line, you need to continue to get better every day so you can put yourself at the line,” Douglas said.

“I'm just looking for guys who go out there who could do the job, who compete their ass off, and who can make plays when their number's called. That's what I'm looking for, and a lot of guys have proven they could do that so far. But tomorrow is another opportunity for us to solidify the guys who can and can't do that.”