Oregon Ducks Get Unfortunate Injury Update On Wide Receiver

The Oregon Ducks are beginning spring practice, a key part of the offseason that signals an unofficial start of the preparation for the 2026 season.

Multiple new players and key returners will be getting their first chance at building on-field chemistry for this fall, but the return from injury for one wide receiver remains uncertain.

Dan Lanning Shares Injury Update on Oregon Wide Receiver Dillon Gresham

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning reacts during the first half of the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Indiana Hoosiers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

While speaking to the media on Thursday in Eugene, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning shared an injury update on wide receiver Dillon Gresham, who missed all of last season with a neck injury.

Gresham was a standout player during Oregon's spring game in 2025 but he now faces an uncertain future in his football career, according to Lanning.

"It's tough. Right now, it's still a little uncertain on his future, but he's attacked it with the right mindset," Lanning said. "I think football at some point ends for everybody and sometimes you hope it doesn't end for a guy like Dillon as soon as it did last season."

Lanning said that Gresham's injury situation should serve as a reminder to players that the game of football can be taken away quickly and that things should never be taken for granted. While this is certainly an important lesson to remember, the fact Lanning said it in the first place is an unfortunate sign for Gresham.

"We'll see what it continues to look like moving forward, but that's the everyday battle, and that's a wakeup call for anybody out there playing ball. It can be taken away from you in a second," Lanning said.

A product of San Jacinto High School in Hemet, CA., Gresham was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class for the Ducks.

Dillon Gresham Impressed During Oregon Spring Game

In last year's spring game, Gresham finished with three catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, which was highlighted by a 56-yard score along with a diving catch down the field.

After the spring game, Lanning had high praise for Gresham.

“I think we all saw what he’s capable of today," Lanning said of Gresham last year. "I thought he made some contested catches. He made some great plays on the ball. ... I think he’d be the first one to tell you, ‘Hey, I got even more room to grow. I got more to even improve.”

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning takes the field as the Oregon Ducks face the Indiana Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9, 2026, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gresham met with the media prior to the 2025 season and talked about his growth as a player.

"I feel like I'm way more prepared than I was last year," Gresham said. "Coming in as a freshman, it was hard adjusting, learning to play book, just seeing how the schemes are going. But Coach (Ross Douglas) coming in, really spending the time and having patience with me, it just got easier."

Time will tell how things work out for Gresham and if he will be able to make a return to the field at some point during the fall.

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