Tight End Trouble?

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, September 3, 2006

The most significant news to come out of Monday’s press meeting was the fact that two-thirds of Washington’s tight end trio are injured.

Michael Gottlieb has a broken hand and Robert Lewis has an unspecified foot injury. Coach Tyrone Willingham said he would have a better idea of the extent of their injuries Tuesday.

If they are not available for the Oklahoma game, it would leave one of the Huskies’ few positions with depth as thin as most of the other positions. Only former Jackson High star Johnie Kirton is healthy among the three top tight ends. Redshirt freshman Tim Williams – who has never played in a game – is listed on the depth chart this week behind those three.

Willingham said the team would not practice inside Dempsey Indoor Facility to simulate the heat in Norman, and said the only reason they would move practice indoors is to try to simulate the noise in Memorial Stadium.

Washington can bring as many players as it wants on this road trip (there’s a 64-player limit for Pac-10 games) but Willingham said he would not bring everyone. It seems likely that he would take between 64 and 70, and he said he “may” bring all four scholarship quarterbacks.

Defensive tackles Jordan White-Frisbee and Erick Lobos are healthy. They did not play against San Jose State because they are used in the base defense, and the Huskies were primarily in the nickel against the Spartans.

Other than Williams, there was no change to this week’s depth chart.

The five players of the week for the San Jose game were Isaiah Stanback (offense), Greyson Gunheim (defense), Sean Douglas (special teams) and Shelton Sampson and Fred Wiggs (scout).