Oregon Ducks Using Bye Week To Get Healthy And Improve On Fundamentals

Mark Helfrich and the Oregon Ducks are looking to get the bad taste of a 2-4 start out of their mouths as they prepare for California next week.

Rain was falling and the wind was starting to pick up on Thursday when Oregon Ducks Head Coach Mark Helfrich met with the media. He spoke about the State of the team and his perception of the Ducks’ 2-4 Start in 2016. The focus this week got back to basics in some ways, “We got accomplished what we wanted to(in practice). We’ve got a lot of guys getting healthy. Got a lot of work today with a lot of younger guys..doing a bunch of fundamental work on understanding roles, protection or that’s Defensively where guys fit.”

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Helfrich said it was a good three days before the team starts preparing for California later this weekend.Words from Players earlier this week echoed to the media. Cameron Hunt commented that 30-40 percent of the team did not care anymore. The Head Coach addressed it as emotional, “The degree to what was said, sure guys are frustrated. You shouldn’t say anything like that to begin with. That’s not true, all those things. Our job is to right the ship as an emotional standpoint and psychological standpoint. Some of those things you want to do more of, some you want to do less of.”

As far as fans calling for changes with the Head Coach, Helfrich was asked about if he feels like he has support from the Oregon Administration, “Sure, I feel like we have a ton of support. The most support we have is the players. We have to play better. We’ll shield them from all the negativity. There is not one person that is happy with any result. We have to be about fixing it.”

Next: Now Is When Oregon Needs Fan Support, Not Opinion

The battle for the Pac-12 Conference does not appear to be in Oregon’s sights this season, but the goal is to get better. The first signs of that will be on the field next Friday as the Ducks take on California.