The three Oregon Ducks football players who were hospitalized earlier this week all are healthy and out of the hospital, according to The Oregonian.
Update on the hospitalized players: All of them are out as of this morning https://t.co/23APt72aSb
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) January 20, 2017
Offensive lineman Sam Poutasi and tight end Cam McCormick were released from the hospital Friday. Offensive lineman Doug Brenner was released Tuesday. All three players suffered from “muscle soreness and symptoms of an exercise-related injury” after intense workouts last week following the holiday break, according to The Oregonian.
Oregon strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde, who was responsible for the strenuous workouts, was suspended for a month without pay on Tuesday as a result of the incident. New Oregon head coach Willie Taggart defended Oderinde on Friday, telling CSNNW.com that the workouts weren’t “military-style,” that dehydration was an issue and that some players simply pushed themselves too hard.
“These guys were tough guys and wanted to show the coaches,” Taggart said. “That’s probably what was part of the problem. They didn’t want to be the guy that quit. There were other guys that quit and they didn’t want to so they probably pushed themselves to a limit that they shouldn’t have.”
Oderinde came to Oregon from South Florida with Taggart, who was hired in early December to replace Mark Helfrich. Helfrich was dismissed after going 4-8 this past season – the Ducks’ first losing season since 2004.
