[CardinalSagehen]

In the clip I saw, Shaw said it is 'injury related' which seems like a curious way to say an injury is preventing him from playing.  I could be wrong, but when other players have season-ending injuries, Shaw hasn't tried to hide the ball like this -- because there is no benefit in keeping other coaches guessing after you say the guy is out for the year.  I'd say there is more to the story we may hear about in due course.

Shaw was asked last week whether it was an injury or something else that was keeping EJ out, and he said it was injury-related.  He was just pre-empting the same question again in this week's conference.  It's pretty clear that EJ actually is hurt, and I don't think he's saving himself for next year somewhere else, even though he may end up somewhere else.  

I also don't think Shaw is being any more shifty about EJ's injury than he typically has been for any other player.  We never heard what was wrong with Bragg, for example, until he retired.  (That's another related topic - I suspect that Hinton's injury is concussion-related, too, based on one public report and the concerns that the Hinton family has expressed about CTE.  We have a group that is relatively more cautious and concerned about concussions than most other programs, which is probably a good thing in the grand scheme.)  

It was strange that Shaw had said last week that EJ would be borderline for Oregon, but if not, then he'd be available soon thereafter.  Then the assessment changed completely this week.  Shaw said it was determined that EJ "needs to take care of it now," which sounds like it requires rest or surgery and that the risk of re-injury would be too great.

All of this said, I agree that EJ might not be here next season, especially if Filkins stays healthy and performs well.  The main rationale for staying would be that he'll be a senior and thus very close to his degree.

[CardinalSagehen]

In the clip I saw, Shaw said it is 'injury related' which seems like a curious way to say an injury is preventing him from playing.  I could be wrong, but when other players have season-ending injuries, Shaw hasn't tried to hide the ball like this -- because there is no benefit in keeping other coaches guessing after you say the guy is out for the year.  I'd say there is more to the story we may hear about in due course.

Shaw was asked last week whether it was an injury or something else that was keeping EJ out, and he said it was injury-related.  He was just pre-empting the same question again in this week's conference.  It's pretty clear that EJ actually is hurt, and I don't think he's saving himself for next year somewhere else, even though he may end up somewhere else.  

I also don't think Shaw is being any more shifty about EJ's injury than he typically has been for any other player.  We never heard what was wrong with Bragg, for example, until he retired.  (That's another related topic - I suspect that Hinton's injury is concussion-related, too, based on one public report and the concerns that the Hinton family has expressed about CTE.  We have a group that is relatively more cautious and concerned about concussions than most other programs, which is probably a good thing in the grand scheme.)  

It was strange that Shaw had said last week that EJ would be borderline for Oregon, but if not, then he'd be available soon thereafter.  Then the assessment changed completely this week.  Shaw said it was determined that EJ "needs to take care of it now," which sounds like it requires rest or surgery and that the risk of re-injury would be too great.

All of this said, I agree that EJ might not be here next season, especially if Filkins stays healthy and performs well.  The main rationale for staying would be that he'll be a senior and thus very close to his degree.