Jedd Fisch gave his Monday press conference as the Huskies head into their first bye week. After teh bye week Washington will travel to Pullam to face off against the Washington State Cougars on September 20th. The UW head coach laid out his plans for this week’s practice as the team prepares for the Apple Cup. Fisch liked what he saw from his team’s performance last Saturday and said he wants his team to build on that performance. Here are three takeaways from Fisch’s Monday presser as the Huskies go into their bye week.
Fisch gives update on Rashid Williams’ injury, WR Depth
WR Rashid Williams left Saturday’s game with a collarbone injury and is expected to be out for a few weeks. Fisch expects the Huskies’ other wide receivers to step up while Williams is missing time. Rashid Williams was becoming QB Demond Williams’ second-favorite target behind WR Denzel Boston. However, other receivers did step up in Saturday’s 70-10 win over UC Davis. Here is what Jedd Fisch said about his WR room and WR Chris Lawson’s potential to fill in for Williams while he is out:
“He (Chris Lawson) did a nice job when he was in there, made plays with his feet, and with his hands blocking. So yeah, he’s back and ready to go. So we got him, Raiden, Dezmen, Kevin Green, with us for four years. You’ve got Omari, who should be close to coming back or coming back this week. Then Justice came in for two big catches, then obviously Denzel Boston, so…And Audric, who played close to 40 snaps.”
Fisch is confident the other receivers he has can step up in Rashid Williams’ absence. Freshman receiver Chris Lawson, whom Fisch mentioned, made a catch in last Saturday’s game good for 22 yards. Two other freshmen to watch for while Williams is out are Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright. Roebuck had four catches for 77 yards and a touchdown against UC Davis. Raiden Vines-Bright had two catches for 52 yards, one of which was a big 45-yard catch to put UW in position to score. Clearly, the Huskies have plenty of depth at wide receiver to fill in while Williams is out.
Fisch wants his defense to create more takeaways
Through the first two games of the season, the Huskies have created just two turnovers as a defense. Safety Makell Esteen had an interception against Colorado State. CB Tacario Davis also came up with an interception against UC Davis. Although the Huskies have recorded two interceptions, they have yet to force a fumble.
“We talked about that earlier today. We’ve only taken the ball away twice, and that’s not who we are, and that’s not what we want to be as a program. And turnovers come in bunches, takeaways come in bunches, and you’ve got to get some momentum to get them. But you also have to attack the ball. You have to have that philosophy. It’s not just about a tackle, that’s about a strip. It’s not just about a sack, it’s about a strip sack. It’s not just about getting the guy down. It’s about punching it out. So all of those things are really like the second level of how we want to attack as a defense. We’re going to spend these next few days, when we’re talking about fundamentals, one of those, two of those periods every day will be based upon trying to attack the football.”
Fisch emphasized that the defense is working on the fundamentals of creating turnovers during practice this week. He understands that generating takeaways is going to be important as the season goes on. Fisch says the defense is spending their bye week working on attacking the ball and stripping the ball in practice, as they work on the fundamentals of producing turnovers.
Huskies’ special teams are now a threat to opposing teams
UW has done a fantastic job in special teams with their return game on kickoffs and punts. When Denzel Boston returned a punt for a touchdown against UC Davis, he put opposing teams on notice. Fisch wants his best athletes to return kicks, and Boston’s punt return TD shows why he will continue to use his best players in the return game. When asked about his special teams, Fisch talked about the importance of making opposing teams think about who they are kicking to:
“Yeah, coach Petrilli told me he thinks that, we’ve gained more in punt returns this season than we did all last season. And we’ve only gone two games. So if we continue to become an elite punt return team and be able to mix and match what Rahshawn and Denzel can do in the return game… I believe that we should have a really good opportunity to go out there and make teams think about punting to us. Just like what teams did this past week when they kicked off. They didn’t kickoff to Adam or Jonah once. They kicked off to Decker and Xe’ree Alexander, were the guys that caught, you know, the kickoffs. And that’s because they didn’t want to put the ball in Adam or Jonah’s hands. But it allowed us to start at the 37-yard line. So if teams don’t want to punt to us, and they want to try to punt away from us, I think it will continue to allow us to have a really good field position.”
Having opposing teams think about Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammed in the kicking game has already had an impact. The Huskies started in good field position against UC Davis because they were thinking about the kick returners. Now that teams will have to worry about Denzel Boston returning punts, they will have to think about punting or not punting to him. The Huskies’ emphasis on special teams, particularly in the kick and punt return game, is another way for them to gain an edge. Flipping the field position in games with the return game will be interesting to watch as the season continues.
- Can Sounders Prove Last Win Against Quakes Was No Fluke?
- Mariners waste Logan Gilbert’s best start of 2026 in White Sox loss
- Sights and Sounds from Seattle Sounders 1-1 draw with San Diego
- Mariners getting Bryce Miller back not a moment too soon
- Danny Musovski’s late equalizer salvages a 1-1 for Seattle Sounders FC with San Diego FC
Discover more from Cascadiasports.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
