Oregon safety Bryan Addison taking time away from team for 'personal reasons'
Oregon veteran safety Bryan Addison is taking some time away from the program, Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning said during his Monday press conference.
“BA right now, he’s taking a break for himself for personal reasons,” Lanning said. “I won’t discuss that beyond that.”
Addison, a sixth-year senior, has played a big role for the Ducks at deep safety this season. In four games, he has tallied 11 tackles and one interception. He has played 109 snaps — fourth-most among the team’s safeties.
Last season, Addison racked up a career-high 30 total tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, five pass breakups, and a tackle for loss. He played 336 defensive snaps, the 13th-most among all Oregon defenders.
Addison left the Ducks’ Week 5 win over Stanford with an apparent injury. He was full-go during the open portions of practice last week, though, and went through pregame warmups before Oregon’s loss to Washington last Saturday.
With Addison out against the Huskies, Evan Williams and Steve Stephens IV saw the majority of the playing time at safety for the Ducks. Tysheem Johnson has spent time at box safety this season, too, but most of his playing time has come at nickel.
Stephens, in particular, could be key for the Ducks for as long as Addison is not available to play. A two-year starter who is in his sixth year with the program, he operated in a reduced role early in the season.
Over the past several games, though, he has reemerged as a pivotal figure for Tosh Lupoi’s defense. Stephens logged a season-high 62 defensive snaps against Washington and played 44 defensive snaps in the Ducks’ Week 5 win over Stanford.
His overall Pro Football Focus grade of 80.4 is the best among Oregon defenders who play regularly.
During his press conference last Monday, Lanning was asked about Stephens and his impact on Oregon’s secondary.
“Steve’s steady Eddy, man,” Lanning said. “This guy prepares every single day unbelievably. He’s really a coach on the field. He’s a great communicator. I think he starts on three special teams for us right now. And that’s really where his role started a lot at the beginning of this season. And now, every time that his name gets called, he answers the call. So, this will be a big game for him. We have to perform well on the back end, perform on specials and he’s done a good job of that so far this year.”
