The biggest news of the day delivered by head coach Jonathan Smith was that safety David Morris has returned to practice in a limited fashion. This is obviously welcome news for the Beavers as Morris is perhaps the Beavers' best defender when healthy. Last season, while playing extensive time as a true-freshman, Morris tallied the fourth-most tackles on the team (51).
"He's getting closer," Smith said. "We're not going to throw him out there unless he's completely ready, but he practiced a little bit this week in limited fashion."
While it's still to be determined as to whether or not Morris will be healthy enough and in good enough game shape to play against Washington or Oregon, the most important thing for Smith and the Beavers is making sure their prized safety is healthy not only now, but also for the future as he'll be a key cog in Tim Tibesar's defense.
"We're never going to put a guy at risk, but he's been working hard to get back," Smith said. "If he's cleared and he can keep himself safe out there, he'll play. If he can't, then he won't and that's where we're at right now."
While Smith has already ruled Morris out for the Stanford game, I'd say there's a pretty decent shot we'll see him on the field soon barring any setbacks. Morris jogged right past the media when we were interviewing Smith, and he was dressed in full-pads and didn't appear to be limited in terms of his foot as he was jogging at a good pace.
In terms of other injuries, the Beavers are extremely healthy right now all considering. Smith offered updates on some of the players who have dealt with lingering injuries the last couple weeks, but noted that he's pleased with where the Beavers are in terms of overall health.
"We're pretty healthy," Smith said. "Jake Luton practiced all week and should be good to go. AP (Artavis Pierce) should be good to go. Andrzej Hughes-Murray should be good to go."
While Stanford isn't up to the par that the Pac-12 has come to expect from them this season as they've muddled to a 5-4 (3-3 Pac-12) record. After defeating Oregon in overtime fashion back in September, the Cardinal have dropped four of their last five games, including lopsided defeats to Notre Dame and Utah and close losses to Washington and Washington State.
Their lone win during this five game stretch came against ASU and while the Cardinal haven't had the season that outside pundits expected them to have, they still possess a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and play a physical brand on football.
"They can really rush the passer," Smith said. "They've got a good quarterback and as a team they'll look to make the game physical and they're just fundamentally sound in everything that they do.We've got to be ready for a team that can utilize both their run and pass games very well. They're definitely good at bringing the physicality."
