Locker back at practice ahead of schedule

Published 11:38 pm Monday, August 18, 2008

SEATTLE — Jake Locker is back.

For the most part anyway.

The Washington quarterback may not be completely healed yet from the hamstring injury he suffered on Aug. 7, but he did return to practice for the first time Monday. Locker was in full pads Monday morning for the first time since getting injured, and suited up again for the Huskies’ afternoon practice.

Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said last week that he was hoping Locker would be back no later than the Monday of game week, so the coaching staff should be happy to have its starting quarterback back a week ahead of that deadline.

Locker is still limited in what he can do at practice, however.

“No, he’s not expected to be probably for some time,” Willingham said when asked if Locker was 100 percent. “Again it’s going to be day-to-day when he reaches that point, but again, no concerns there.”

Asked what he and trainers saw in Locker that led them to put him back on the field, Willingham answered, “Jake. That’s what we saw, Jake. Jake is eager, anxious and ready to get involved.”

That eagerness and anxiousness is something coaches will have to keep in check while Locker continues to heal.

“There’s no question that what we have to do is definitely put limits on him,” Willingham said. “Because he wants to be back and he wants to be going, and we have to be very careful, because he’s an instinctive player, so his instincts take over and he just goes. It’s just something that’s going to happen, so the best way to do that is to put him in situations that would protect him from using his instincts, then we can kind of limit what will take place with him.”

The rest of the injury report: Willingham continued saying most of his team’s injuries are minor, and that only walk-on linebacker T.J. Poe (clavicle) and freshman cornerback Anthony Gobern (shoulder) are out for a long period of time.

Center Matt Sedillo, who suffered a concussion last week, was back at practice, but was wearing a red jersey signifying no contact. Receiver Devin Aguilar, defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu and cornerback Byron Davenport were not at the portion of practice open to the media in the afternoon, presumably rehabbing their injuries.

Center Juan Garcia was also absent, though it has been normal during fall camp for the team to limit him to one practice during two-a-days, so there’s probably no cause for alarm. Safety Victor Aiyewa (groin) is still limited, Willingham said, but he did participate in both of Monday’s practices.

Running backs perform well in scrimmage: The Huskies scrimmaged for nearly two hours Saturday, and Willingham said his team’s inexperienced running backs stood out.

“If there was a highlight group, and I thought we had some good groups all across the field, I’d probably say our running backs were the highlight group,” he said. “They showed pretty deep that they can run the football.”

Asked if anyone in particular stood out, Willingham declined to name names.

“They all showed that they can run the football,” he said. “They had a lot of broken tackles, and that’s what you look for, how can you gain the extra yardage, and they did a wonderful job of that, the entire group did. I was very impressed.”

Willingham said that if the team were to play today, two freshmen could factor into the rotation. He did not name the two, but based on what other coaches have been saying and on practice observations, it seems that Chris Polk is one of the two, and the other would be either Johri Fogerson or David Freeman.

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog