It appears the injury bug has claimed its first victim of Washington's fall camp. Following Wednesday's practice, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb informed the media that wide receiver Giles Jackson injured his thumb and could end up missing the entire 2023 season.
When asked about utilizing a medical redshirt for the senior receiver, Grubb said, "We've got to be totally open to all options."
During the spring, Kalen DeBoer praised the senior receiver as one of the team's most consistent performers in practice and, if the injury is serious, it could impact Washington's depth at receiver during the season. However, the Huskies are in a better position than most teams to deal with this injury.
While the starting group of Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja'Lynn Polk seems to be solidified, Jackson was playing very well during fall camp and had become a reliable target for freshman quarterback Austin Mack during his time with the second team. In his stead, true freshman Taeshaun Lyons has been taking snaps with the second-team offense.
Lyons, a former four-star recruit, struggled with drops during the early portion of fall camp but has made enough progress to earn the trust of the coaching staff. When running with the second team, Lyons has been lining up next to two of fall camp's biggest standouts.
Denzel Boston and Germie Bernard have had as good of a camp as any player on the team and have earned a lot of praise from their teammates.
Odunze called Boston a "ball hawk" following Wednesday's practice, and said that the redshirt freshman is "able to do everything on the field from underneath to over the top, and he's consistently made those plays during fall camp."
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
More must-reads: