Tight end Colt Lyerla made his first appearance at the Ducks fall camp Tuesday after missing the first week for undisclosed personal reasons. Head coach Chip Kelly said Lyerla showed some understandable rust but looked good overall on his first day back.
“He’s certainly not jumping in with the ones right now,” Kelly said. “He’s got to go through a five-day acclimation period just like any other athlete we bring in here.”
Lyerla practiced without pads today and will don only a helmet again tomorrow, then play two days in a shell before he finally puts on full pads on his fifth day back.
While Lyerla is thought by many to be the likely candidate for the Ducks’ starting tight end job when the season starts on September 1st, Kelly said that the depth chart is far from set in stone. In addition to Lyerla, Kelly said that Pharaoh and TJ Daniel have stood out as other potential replacements for 2011’s starting tight end David Paulson, who is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Lyerla was not made available to the media after practice.