Part of the Oregon Ducks’ 4-3 start to the 2026 season has been rooted in injury woes. While quarterback Dante Moore being ruled out for the remainder of the season has grabbed headlines, there are plenty of other injury question marks.

Among them are offensive lineman Immanuel Iheanacho and defensive lineman Matt Johnson, who both missed the loss to Illinois, as well as offensive lineman Dave Iuli, who’s been limited in recent games.

Coach Dan Lanning provided a pair of unfortunate updates during his Wednesday meeting with the media.

“Yeah, so Matt is having surgery. He's going to be down for us, right? Same for Dave. Now he's been fighting through it, battling through it. Thought he might have some availability last week and was dressed for the game,” Lanning said. “He's been really tough, but the reality is he just wasn't able to perform, so he has surgery as well. Manny is back practicing with us. We feel like we could have him back by the end of this week.”

Lanning’s updates come ahead of Wednesday’s injury report. The first of four required availability reports by the Big Ten is set to be released at 5 p.m. PT.

The Oregon coach spent his press conference previewing the matchup against the No. 20 Northwestern Wildcats and former Oregon State quarterback Aidan Chiles, and how the Ducks are responding to adversity after staff changes.

Everything Dan Lanning Said

Opening Statement:

“Today there was some real positive. We attacked. Talked to the team about really you don't control outcomes, but you do control how you can influence outcomes, right? And our decisions and what we attack, I've talked to you guys a little bit already about creating value in yourself.”

“What we need to be able to do. I thought the energy was there on the field today. Guys really focusing on their job, what they need to attack. There was some good competitive periods, so really a positive day today.”

Process of Collaborative Play-Calling:

“Yeah, it was good. I mean, we do a period called seven shots on like a day like today, and our offense hasn't had as much success there the last few. This today they did they went they went and won that period, nice competitive period.”

“But that's just like a small glimpse of okay, let's take advantage of what we can do and do it at a high level. Make sure guys are doing the assignment that they're responsible for. As coaches, you're responsible for guys' execution, and the execution in that period today was a good reflection of where they've grown a little bit just today. That's just today. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow.”

What He’s Seen From the Refocus:

“Yeah, I think there's moments of that. I think we're still a team at times that we just don't handle adversity well. Like a lot of the things that we ask our players to do are things that I don't think grown men do well. It's when it's good there's a level of energy and effort, and when it's not good, it almost looks like your dog died.”

“And you just can't operate that way in our profession and the job that we do. You got to bring in every single play. And today there were some moments that was really good, and then there were some moments where it's like, hey, wait, let's pause practice right now. Let's identify exactly where we're at.”

“Let's talk about what we said our reaction is going to be, and you got to do something that most men don't do. And there was moments that showed up today. So, I think there's been a spark, a focus there. We'll see what that translates like to Saturday.”

“There's no guarantees. Like I said, you're not in charge of the outcome, but you are in charge of like how you can influence outcomes with your effort, your energy, the things that you're in charge of.”

Growth From Northwestern Quarterback Aidan Chiles:

“Yeah, I think you know more than anything, you don't have that QB rating if you're not operating at a really high level. I think their offense has done an unbelievable job of utilizing his skill set.”

“And I told our defensive staff all those snaps he took from under center at Oregon State, and those snaps he took from under center at Michigan State is part of the reason he's having success, and he's able to do those things. Like you haven't necessarily seen a long history of Coach (Chip) Kelly operating from under center, right?”

“But you see that showing up now, and that's him playing off of the skill set that he developed, and now he's able to use his feet. He's able to extend plays. He's got a lot of zip on his ball, and he's able to put it in the tight windows when they're throwing those intermediate routes.”

“And their play-action game is really set up well by their run game. Their run game's such a weapon for them that it opens up the pass game, and they've done a great job of playing off of that and utilizing that.”

Factors Into Dedicating a Quarterback Spy:

“Yeah, I think one thing that makes that challenging is like if you say a guy's a spy, a lot of times that spy is going to be in the middle of the field, right? Because the quarterback can go right or go left. When you dedicate a person to do that as a spy and they're in the middle of field, then you probably just remove an edge.”

“If you remove an edge with a team that nakeds and patrol passes and moves the pocket as much as they do, now the guy that you're spying from the middle of the field has to go run to the right or run to the left to get him pulled up. Where you might have been better. Actually, just having an edge on your defense and having a controlled rush.”

“So, it's a game within the game of, like, how do you control them? Where do you want the extra hat? What coverage can you play behind it that allows a hook defender to go pull up the QB? So, there's different elements that have to play in that. Do you just pressure? I play quarterbacks that move the pocket really well.”

“So, what do you do? You send another guy. You send another hat. But he has proven with his arm that he can take advantage of that too. So, I think you have to have a lot of those answers on your call sheet and a lot of ways to be able to do that. And then understand there's times that you're going to be better at controlling the quarterback and times you're not. And then asking guys to play with relentless effort, like you've seen.”

“There's moments this year where Teitum Tuioti's been blocked, but the reason he got the sack is he just didn't stop, right? As a coverage sack because we had great coverage in the back end, and he just kept going. He got chipped last game.”

“Then he's getting blocked by the tackle, and then he creates a sack, and it's like that wasn't necessarily technique; that was effort. So, there's gonna be some effort plays that have to show up in this game to be able to control QB like Aidan.”

Northwestern’s Redzone Defense:

“One, they're multiple, right? Two, they play really sound. They're a team that plays almost all the way down the field to say, okay, you're going to make a mistake before we do. We're not going to give you the free explosive, right? Can you really go five yards, five yards, five yards all the way down the field and have success?”

“Because the way they play, and then when they get down there in the rent area, they have some pictures that are look the exact same but are completely different. And I think that provides a challenge. They've got a rolodex of calls that they can do, and they do a good job of analyzing you and saying, okay, what do we have to take away for this team?”

“And they get pretty stingy down there. And yet, you might have a one-on-one outside, but your one-on-one has to win. They're one-on-one, and they understand. Hey, what are the routes that are going to show up? You might have the ability to get an extra hat, right? But again, they're going to move. They're going to do some different pieces there. So, I think that's part of what separates them.”

Utilization of Northwestern’s Three Running Backs:

“Yeah, I just think probably the separator is where all the runs can hit. They have runs that hit inside direct. So, if you try to be strong on the perimeter, they're poured up inside, right? If you try to be heavy on the inside, they have the runs that can hit outside with their option game, with their jet sweep game, like all those things show up, and multiple guys that can do it.”

“But they run extremely hard. They rarely go down on first contact. They're good at jump cuts and reads, and then they just get North and South quick, so wherever the ball hits, those guys do a great job of that.”

Message to Placekicker Gage Hurych After the Illinois Loss:

“Yeah, tough times happen, right? Tough moments happen, but tough guys last. And again, you ask him to kick two over 50-yard field goals. Those weren't the easiest. Those aren't the situations we've asked him. The wind was a little bit of a factor, but there's a trust engaged that he's going to go do his job. Do it at a high level. You're going to have moments like that in your career, and you got to be able to respond to him.”

Balancing What’s Made Him Successful With What He’s Learned:

“Yeah, I mean, that's the fine line. One, I got to show our team that I've got confidence in what we're gonna do. It means I got to be really satisfied with the plan. As we go in, I have some confidence in what we're trying to do right now in some of those situations. But I can't replace caring. We got to be true to who we are, right?”

“And fourth-and-one, that's something that we've proven over time, that like we're going to be aggressive in those moments. On the same note, you don't just take unfoolish risks. I feel like there's been moments where we've taken foolish risks, where we're running a two-point gate play, and the referee stands over the ball, and what was good all of a sudden now it's not as good.”

“Like, oh, take a deep breath, reset. Like, let's put ourselves in good moments. But when you got a chance to get a first down, and we've been aggressive in those moments before. Like, let's be aggressive. And if, again, we don't control outcomes, but we can control what we can't anticipate from the opponent.”

“We can control how hard we execute, the level of focus and the effort that we have. When we do that, then we can go have success in those moments. And we got a good defense, so sometimes they're going to have a short field. Let's go play ball.”

“And sometimes it's not always going to look like you want, but we're not going to go live in fear and not be who we are. Because we're worried about what somebody will say after the game, or we can influence outcomes by being aggressive in those moments and having success, and those are the things we're going to do.”