After the season-ending ACL injury to junior linebacker John Bacon in Oregon’s 35-23 win over Arizona State Saturday, coach Mike Bellotti characterized the receiving and linebacking units as walking a “razor’s edge” as far as depth is concerned.
The first starting linebacker to go down with an injury this season was senior A.J. Tuitele, who suffered a broken foot against California. His rehabilitation was diagnosed for 6 to 8 weeks and coaches said they hoped to have him back for a bowl game.
Now, five weeks later, those hopes have changed, and Bellotti said that Tuitele was having an x-ray Tuesday to determine the extent of healing that has taken place in his foot.
“He could, if (the foot is) healthy enough, begin some movement and then work toward coming back full go, but it’s one of those things where you can’t come back too soon,” said Bellotti. “I’m sure he’ll be back for a bowl game and I think there’s a real good possibility he could be back for the Civil War. How much ahead of that I don’t know.”
The depth issues at receiver are being addressed by giving freshman safety Jeffrey Maehl some snaps with the offense.
“He will take some reps on offense this week,” said Bellotti. “Then we’ll see going into the next game and for the remainder of the season he might do some double duty.”
Maehl played defensive back in high school and also caught 40 passes for 576 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior year at Paradise (Calif.) High. Bellotti said he was recruited for his skills on offense and defense.
“Both sides of the ball would like to have him,” said Bellotti. “He’s our starter on our odd package at safety and that won’t change but we will look at him in some situations to be used on offense.”
Sophomore receiver Derrick Jones may be inching toward a return to action, but that return will have to wait another week. The troubled receiver had his wisdom teeth removed on Monday and will not practice this week, according to Bellotti.
“We’re trying to clear up all his issues at one time,” said Bellotti of the timing of the procedure.
Pac-10 Players of the Week
Junior defensive end Nick Reed and senior quarterback Dennis Dixon were named Pacific-10 Conference Players of the Week for defense and offense, respectively, for their roles in Oregon’s win over Arizona State.
Reed tied career highs in tackles (11), sacks (3.5), and had five tackles for a loss. Dixon threw for 189 yards and four touchdowns and added 57 rushing yards.
The award was Dixon’s third of the season, the first time any Oregon player has won the award three times since its creation in 1983.
It is also the first time Oregon players have been named the defensive and the offensive Pac-10 Player of the Week since Nov. 8, 1997, when Akili Smith and Peter Sirmon both won the award.
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