The Oregon football team had several key injuries hurt wide receivers last year. The team has a new device that could prevent those kinds of issues next season.
Oregon's offense was limited by significant injuries late in the season, and the team is trying to do something to help keep its star players on the field.
Wide receivers Dakorien Moore, Gary Bryant Jr., tight end Kenyon Sadiq, and left tackle Isaiah World missed games in November due to injury.
Last season, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning explained that it wasn't easy for the coaching staff to decide how to bring back Moore and Bryant after dealing with injuries.
“It’s just that. It’s a balance. You don’t sprint back in and throw somebody into the fire. You build it as it goes,” Lanning said, via Erik Skopil of 247Sports. “We’ve found strengths as guys have been out and those are strengths we want to continue to lean on. Guys that do some things really really well.”
Per athletic trainer Clif Marshall, the Ducks are trying to prevent injuries in the upcoming season with a new recovery shoe.
"The (Oregon football) team got their own recovery shoe!" Marshall posted on X. "This recovery shoe was co-developed by Nike and Hyperice. It combines heat + Normatec-style compression built directly into wearable footwear!
"Designed to be used pre-training (warm-up) or post-training (recovery). Common with NBA, NFL, Olympic, and pro-level athletes."
It'll be interesting to see if the shoe helps Oregon keep its wide receivers healthy in the fall. With Dante Moore returning for 2026, the Ducks have a chance to compete for a national championship if the star quarterback's targets are healthy.
Last season, Lanning tried to manage injuries with the offense by "personnelling" the unit to match Oregon's opponents.
“One thing we’ve done well on offense, we’re talking about some offensive injuries, is we’ve done a good job of personnelling teams,” Lanning said.
“Now we have a variety of personnel that we can use when you start getting guys healthy and it makes you multi-dimensional and gives you an opportunity to use guys with their strengths.”
Oregon is taking multiple approaches to keep its players healthy and fresh for football games. With a talented roster, a healthy group should make a run for the Big Ten championship and CFP.