Fresh off a two week hiatus from football, head coach Mario Cristobal and Oregon football returned to the field on Tuesday to begin its third week of spring practice.
Cristobal and the Ducks also returned to the field with new faces as well. Oregon had three new freshman in uniform today, including tight end Patrick Herbert, wide receiver Mycah Pittman and kicker Camden Lewis. Freshman cornerback Mykael Wright is set to land into Eugene tonight and will likely join the team on Thursday.
“These are really valuable moments for these guys,” Cristobal said. “It allows us to create a healthy, and the right kind of, competition.”
Penn State grad transfer Juwan Johnson joined the Ducks today, but was in street clothes and won’t play until Thursday. Despite Johnson’s prior experience at the NCAA level, he still has to battle for his right as a starter.
“The good thing is that he’s played a lot of football. He’s very smart,” Cristobal said. “Ordaining someone a position before they have even had a single play out there, we would never do. Everything is going to be earned out there. There is going to be equal opportunity for all those guys to earn their position.”
One freshman who Cristobal harped on was Pittman. Pittman, the four-star recruit from Calabasas, California, got a lot of reps with the second team offense today during his first practice as a Duck. Pittman, prior to joining the Ducks, was fed team practices through a stream that he studied on an iPad to be ready when he joined on Tuesday.
“He just got here and he jumped right into practice,” Cristobal said.”New formations, new terminology, new concepts, … but Mycah really held his own today and he made some really nice plays.”
With its sixth practice in the books, Oregon will have one more practice on Thursday in Eugene before heading to Hillsboro, Oregon, on Saturday. The practice offers the fans their first look at the 2019 Ducks, and to conclude the third week of spring ball.
Follow Gabriel on Twitter @gabe_ornelas
