Covington Deals with Painstaking Process of Establishing Himself at UW

Jacobe Covington didn't care. Targeted on a pass play to the end zone, the University of Washington cornerback arrived well before the ball came to freshman Taj Davis and he made angry contact. 

For a guy who is perpetually stoic if not brooding as a player, and rarely reveals much emotion on the field, Covington manhandled the receiver to the point he ripped his helmet off him.

This, of course, was an invitation for others to join in, and Husky players pushed and shoved until they didn't and it was time to run another play.

Yet for Covington, this marked a second consecutive day for him outwardly losing his temper during fall practice. 

Twenty-four hours earlier, the corner and fellow freshman running back Jay'Veon Sunday exchanged heated unpleasantries following a play that involved plenty of contact and careened out of bounds.

With Covington as a younger player unavailable to the media to offer any explanations, it would seem that these outbursts indicate the highly regarded defensive back from Chandler, Arizona, is merely feeling impatient with his progress on the Husky depth chart and letting it all hang out.

This would be a common occurrence for the college program that hails itself as DBU, one often overloaded with talented defenders overeager to get out there and show what they can do, and forced to wait.

Elijah Molden, the leader of the Husky secondary for the last two years and now with the Tennessee Titans, admittedly was unsettled that it took him until his third UW season to become a starter and a focal player. 

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Covington, formerly a 4-star recruit, likely is going through those same sometimes exasperating growing pains, as well.

In spring practice, the Huskies tried him at safety, where both starting jobs remain open, which was unlike cornerback, where NFL prospects Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon are unmovable objects as the starters.

Rather than remain in safety contention, alongside other young hopefuls in Dominique Hampton and Julius Irvin, Covington returned to corner, which for the most part signaled he wouldn't soon be a first-teamer.

Yet coach Jimmy Lake saw enough growth in the touted defensive back's April performance to be greatly encouraged.

"He really took a step in spring," he said. "I'm so proud of him. He really took a huge step."