Ex-Desert Pines player Sam Poutasi recovering well in Oregon hospital

Sam Poutasi, a former Desert Pines High School football standout who plays for Oregon, is recovering well from an injury that hospitalized him last week, according to people close to him.

Poutasi’s former Desert Pines football coach, Tico Rodriguez, said the redshirt freshman offensive lineman was doing well when he spoke with him a few days ago, adding that he could be released from the hospital Wednesday.

Poutasi’s brother Jeremiah, who plays in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars, repeated Rodriguez’s sentiment and said Wednesday via text message that Sam Poutasi did not want to comment on his condition.

A spokesperson for PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Oregon declined to comment when asked if Poutasi was still in its care or had been released, citing patient confidentiality.

Poutasi was one of three Oregon players hospitalized after intense workouts when the Ducks returned to an offseason conditioning program after six weeks without football-related activities. Irele Oderinde, the football team’s strength and conditioning coach who led the workouts, has been suspended for one month without pay, according to the school.

Poutasi’s teammate Doug Brenner was released from the hospital Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Poutasi and another teammate, Cam McCormick, were still in the hospital as of 4:27 p.m. Wednesday and are in “good condition,” according to the Register-Guard.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Oregon said that all future workouts have been modified and the strength and conditioning coach will now report to director of performance and sports science Andrew Murray instead of coach Willie Taggart.

Three days into the sessions, one player complained of “muscle-soreness and displayed other symptoms of potential exercise-related injury.” The medical staff took “appropriate action,” and two other players later complained of the same symptoms.

“I have visited with the three young men involved in the incidents in the past few days, and I have been in constant contact with their families, offering my sincere apologies,” Taggart said in the statement. “As the head football coach, I hold myself responsible for all of our football-related activities, and the safety of our students must come first. I have addressed the issue with our strength and conditioning staff, and I fully support the actions taken today by the university.

“I want to thank our medical staff and doctors for caring for all of our young men, and I want to apologize to the university, our students, alumni and fans.”

Athletic director Rob Mullens said in the statement: “The university holds the health, safety and well-being of all of our students in high regard. We are confident that these athletes will soon return to full health, and we will continue to support them and their families in their recoveries.”

The Oregonian was the first to report late Monday that the players were hospitalized after being taken there late last week. The newspaper reported that the mother of one of the players said her son had been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when muscle tissue breaks down and leaks into the blood stream. The condition can cause kidney damage.

Last year, the University of Iowa paid $15,000 — a fraction of William Lowe’s initial $200,000 claim — to settle a lawsuit brought by him after he was diagnosed with exertional rhabdomyolysis. Lowe was one of 13 Hawkeyes hospitalized after a high-intensity 2011 workout.

Lowe’s lawsuit alleged coaches and trainers failed to properly supervise the January 2011 workout and didn’t immediately offer medical care after he and others reported severe pain and symptoms.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter.