Richie Incognito was released from the Oregon football program for failing to meet conditions for admission on the team, head coach Mike Bellotti said at practice Monday.
Bellotti said the decision was made last Thursday to give the former Nebraska center a blanket release, which allows him to transfer to any school in the country. Bellotti wouldn’t elaborate on what conditions were violated, but said Incognito will keep his scholarship for the rest of the term and can remain enrolled in classes at the University if he chooses.
Incognito had yet to practice with the team at the time of his release.
“He’s not a member of the team, he never actually has been, and I wish him well,”
Bellotti said.
While his on-field talent was never questioned, Incognito’s off-field baggage caused some to question Bellotti’s decision to give the 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior a chance to join the program.
In February, Incognito was charged with three counts of assault stemming from a fight at a party. He was found guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge after a three-day trial in June and paid a $500 fine.
Another charge was dismissed, and he was found innocent on the third.
He was suspended indefinitely from the Nebraska football team by head coach Bill Callahan for repeated violation of team rules.
However, Bellotti defended his decision by saying the former All-Big-12 tackle needed to pass several tests before becoming an active participant on the football team.
“I set things up to protect everyone involved,” Bellotti said. “I felt very comfortable with it. That’s why (the media) made such a big deal out of it, and I said I was not concerned. I would not do it any differently.”
Injuries hamper Oregon
The pain of the loss to Arizona State continues past Saturday night as Oregon lost two starters to injury. Also, many other players will be missing practice time this week.
The most serious injury occurred during the third quarter, when rover Marley Tucker went down in the west end zone and dislocated his right elbow.
Tucker is expected to miss six weeks,
according to Bellotti.
The Lakewood, Calif., native was the Ducks’ most experienced defensive back and the only senior in
the secondary.
“This week in practice, somebody’s going to be taking his reps, and it will probably be Justin (Phinisee),” starting strong safety J.D. Nelson said.
Nelson doesn’t think the loss of Tucker will hurt the Ducks’ play-calling, but his knowledge of their defensive scheme will be missed.
“Everybody makes a lot of the calls,” said Nelson, “but as far as communicating at key times and knowing what to do overall, he’s a
big part of our defense, and it’s a
big loss.”

After the loss of Tucker, Bellotti said that it put more pressure on
Nelson.
Nelson agreed, adding that all the defensive backs will have to raise their level of play.
“I’m going to have to step my game up,” Nelson said. “But I think somebody’s going to step in and do a
nice job.”
The other starter that will miss some significant time is offensive tackle Robin Knebel. The Roseburg native suffered a high ankle sprain and will miss two to three games.
Junior wide receiver Demetrius Williams continues to battle through injury after suffering a bruised shoulder to go along with a case of turf
toe. He is expected to play in the game Saturday, but may miss some
practice.
“Demetrius Williams is not healthy, and that’s unfortunate,” Bellotti said. “In watching him in film, he is not fast. He’s got turf toe
and that is a problem for us. He was a guy we looked at to make some
big plays.”

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