It’s no great secret that when it comes to the disclosing of injuries that the Oregon football program is pretty hush-hush. That so-called “policy” has been put to test this year with the injuries of Tyler Johnstone, Andre Yruretagoyena, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Matt Pierson just to name a few and now Hroniss Grasu.
Lost among the shuffle of last week’s victory over No. 23 Utah and the season-ending injury to starting tight end Pharaoh Brown, starting center Grasu went down in the second half after sustaining a non-contact knee injury when it looked like the toe of his cleat got snagged on the grass.
According to multiple reports, Grasu left the locker room by walking under his own power but at a very slow and gingerly pace and his status for the rest of the season was up to speculation.
Hamani Stevens, one of the mainstays on the offense line with Grasu, told the Oregonian today that Grasu looks like he’ll “miss a couple of games.”
The injury to Grasu comes at an opportune time for Oregon though as it has this weekend off before playing Colorado and Oregon State in the following weeks. Colorado is winless in the Pac-12 this year with an 0-7 record while the Beavers are currently in last place in the Pac-12 North with a 1-5 conference record.
Not only is Oregon’s schedule considerably weak over the next few weeks, it does allow ample time for redshirt freshman Doug Brenner to get acclimated to the rigors of playing center while allowing Grasu the necessary time to heal up in time for a hopeful return to the Pac-12 Championship game.
The official word from the Oregon coaching staff is that Grasu is listed as “day-to-day” according to offensive line coach Steve Greenwood. 
Oregon is no stranger to losing offensive lineman this year as Grasu would be one of five players to miss at least a game this year because of injury. The good news for the Ducks is that they could get back Yruretagoyena for the Colorado game as well as the return of Matt Pierson from his MCL injury.
Regardless of whether Grasu returns in the next few weeks or not at all, the Ducks are more than acclimated to playing with a makeshift group of lineman and they still expect the same level of success. It brings a whole new meaning to “next man up” and thus far, Oregon has been successful with that ideology.
 Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka