Washington isn’t the only Pac-12 North team dealing with injuries.
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown and freshman running back Thomas Tyner are dealing with leg and foot injuries, respectively.
Brown left Monday’s practice in a cast, and one report said the sophomore was expected to miss “several weeks.” However, Brown, speaking with reporters on Tuesday, downplayed the significance of the injury.
“I just had to put it in a cast. I just tweaked it a little bit,” Brown. “I had to mobilize it a little bit. It happened a few days ago in practice.
“The cast will be off at the end of the week and then I’ll be back running and everything.”
Brown, who said he expects to be back in time for the Ducks’ season opener against Nicholls State, had just two receptions for 42 yards a year ago. However, is role in the Ducks offense was expected to increase this season after a solid spring.
Meanwhile, first-year coach Mark Helfrich took a page from the Chip Kelly manual of how to (not) talk about injuries. Though Tyner was reportedly wheeled out of Tuesday’s practice wearing a protective boot, Helfrich said his running back was just fine.
“To my knowledge he is 100 percent,’' Helfrich said. “The protective boot business is a good business. I should have gotten into that business.’'