Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Football Practice Report: April 2
04/02/26 | Football
The Ducks were back inside Autzen Stadium as spring practice continued Thursday morning.
EUGENE, Ore. — Spring football practice continued Thursday for the Oregon football team, which held a morning workout inside Autzen Stadium in full pads.
The Ducks are in the heart of their April practice stretch, building toward the Spring Game on April 25 at Autzen Stadium. Thursday marked another padded session as the team continues to ramp up the physicality of its preparations.
Following practice, running backs coach Ra'Shaad Samples met with local media, as did running back Dierre Hill Jr. Video of those interviews is embedded below.
Some highlights from coach Samples …
On the development of sophomores Hill and Jordon Davison: "They're going through the maturation process. They're growing. They have to understand who they are as players, understand their strengths and weaknesses — they were operating off of pure talent last year. They've gotten in the film room more. They understand the game conceptually, what we're trying to accomplish, the moving parts of the offense, different spots. So just growth — they should be key parts of not just the backfield, but our offense."
On replacing veteran leadership from last year: "The honest truth is, whenever you lose a guy like Noah Whittington, you can't replace that, right? That's a guy who's been in this program forever, who's a grown man who understands the on- and off-the-field expectation, understands the film — Noah was the first one in the building every day. We brought a veteran guy in the room with Simeon Price, and he's been amazing for the room already; he's kind of filled a little bit of that void. But also the young guys have grown up. Dierre has grown up — he speaks more, he talks more. Jordon has grown up. Those guys didn't say a word last year; they were just happy to play football. Now those guys are talking. There's more of a leadership group than there was a leadership guy last year."
On newcomers Price, Brandon Smith and Tradarian Ball: "Simeon is a seasoned vet, man. I tell him all the time he's been playing college football longer than I've been coaching it — we've got a little joke on that. He goes about his business, he plays the game hard, he's in the film room every single day. He's probably up there already watching practice. He's stretching. He's encouraging guys to do yoga and drink beet juice. He brings consistency to the room, and he has some ability also. T-Ball is a versatile guy — he's learning and getting up to speed, but when he does things the right way, you can see the talent. And Brandon has exceeded expectations for a guy who's been here, I don't know, (maybe) a week. He made some plays today where you can just see that kid has a chance to be special if he continues to pick things up."
On the rehab progress of Da'Jaun "Dink" Riggs: "For Dink, the mental process has been really important. He had a couple of injuries since he's been here. Just talking to that guy — how can you help yourself when you're not on the field? You gotta be in the film room, you have to communicate the offense, you have to be able to teach it. He's gained weight, he's gotten bigger, he's gotten stronger in the weight room. He understands the offense; he's a really smart kid. Once he's just back to his normal self, he's going to insert himself in that competition."
The Ducks are in the heart of their April practice stretch, building toward the Spring Game on April 25 at Autzen Stadium. Thursday marked another padded session as the team continues to ramp up the physicality of its preparations.
Following practice, running backs coach Ra'Shaad Samples met with local media, as did running back Dierre Hill Jr. Video of those interviews is embedded below.
Some highlights from coach Samples …
On the development of sophomores Hill and Jordon Davison: "They're going through the maturation process. They're growing. They have to understand who they are as players, understand their strengths and weaknesses — they were operating off of pure talent last year. They've gotten in the film room more. They understand the game conceptually, what we're trying to accomplish, the moving parts of the offense, different spots. So just growth — they should be key parts of not just the backfield, but our offense."
On replacing veteran leadership from last year: "The honest truth is, whenever you lose a guy like Noah Whittington, you can't replace that, right? That's a guy who's been in this program forever, who's a grown man who understands the on- and off-the-field expectation, understands the film — Noah was the first one in the building every day. We brought a veteran guy in the room with Simeon Price, and he's been amazing for the room already; he's kind of filled a little bit of that void. But also the young guys have grown up. Dierre has grown up — he speaks more, he talks more. Jordon has grown up. Those guys didn't say a word last year; they were just happy to play football. Now those guys are talking. There's more of a leadership group than there was a leadership guy last year."
On newcomers Price, Brandon Smith and Tradarian Ball: "Simeon is a seasoned vet, man. I tell him all the time he's been playing college football longer than I've been coaching it — we've got a little joke on that. He goes about his business, he plays the game hard, he's in the film room every single day. He's probably up there already watching practice. He's stretching. He's encouraging guys to do yoga and drink beet juice. He brings consistency to the room, and he has some ability also. T-Ball is a versatile guy — he's learning and getting up to speed, but when he does things the right way, you can see the talent. And Brandon has exceeded expectations for a guy who's been here, I don't know, (maybe) a week. He made some plays today where you can just see that kid has a chance to be special if he continues to pick things up."
On the rehab progress of Da'Jaun "Dink" Riggs: "For Dink, the mental process has been really important. He had a couple of injuries since he's been here. Just talking to that guy — how can you help yourself when you're not on the field? You gotta be in the film room, you have to communicate the offense, you have to be able to teach it. He's gained weight, he's gotten bigger, he's gotten stronger in the weight room. He understands the offense; he's a really smart kid. Once he's just back to his normal self, he's going to insert himself in that competition."
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