SEATTLE — Steve Sarkisian doesn’t want to pronounce Kasen Williams’ season finished just yet, but the coach said he’ll know more about the junior wide receiver’s status after Williams undergoes surgery today for a broken bone in his left leg and an injury to his foot.
Williams suffered the injuries when California defensive back Kameron Jackson landed awkwardly on his lower left leg during the second quarter of UW’s 41-17 win over the Bears on Saturday.
After the game, Sarkisian said Williams likely would miss the rest of the season, but Monday he said a more specific timetable will be available after the surgery.
Williams, who caught 29 passes for 429 yards this season, was scheduled for an MRI on Monday.
“To Kasen’s credit, he’s in good spirits,” Sarkisian said. “He came to coach (Don) James’ service (Sunday), was with the team today, and he’ll take it like a champion. He’ll do whatever we need him to do to get healthy, and he’ll be back.”
There are other Washington players who need this bye week — Washington’s next game is Nov. 9 against Colorado — to get healthy. Aside from Williams, Sarkisian said he didn’t think any of the other ailments were serious.
But having this week off certainly will help. Starting left guard Dexter Charles (shoulder), rush end Josh Shirley (calf), defensive tackle Lawrence Lagafuaina and defensive back Kevin King (shoulder) all watched Saturday’s game from the sidelines. Charles, a graduate of Stanwood High School, has missed two games now.
“We’re just a banged up team right now,” Sarkisian said. “We had a physical run of teams that we went up against that’s taken its toll. We’ve got some quad contusions, we’ve got some shoulder bruises, we’ve got some calf strains, quad strains. We’ve just got all kinds of things, the whole spectrum of injuries. I don’t really want to call them injuries, because I think if we were playing Saturday the majority of those guys could play and would play.”
Aside from getting healthy, UW’s bye week mission is different now than it was earlier in Sarkisian’s career. Instead of focusing this week on their next opponent (Colorado), the Huskies will use the extra week to work with players who might not see the field until later in their careers.
Sarkisian said it’s about “developing our younger players, working with those guys, focusing on a few new schemes we’re going to need to have ready for the fourth quarter, and getting fresh, getting healthy.”
Coons honored
Travis Coons, Washington’s punter, place-kicker and now kickoff specialist, was named Pac-12 special-teams player of the week on Monday.
Coons handled all three jobs last season, but was taken off kickoffs this season with the addition of Cameron Van Winkle to the roster. Van Winkle has missed the past three games with a back injury, though, so Coons is back on kickoffs while still punting and kicking field goals and PATs.
Coons made two field goals against Cal, and landed three of his eight punts inside Cal’s 10-yard line. Coons also recorded touchbacks on three of his eight kickoffs.
Colorado kickoff: 5 p.m.
Washington announced that it’s Nov. 9 game against Colorado at Husky Stadium will kickoff at 5 p.m. and air on the Pac-12 Networks.
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