Notes, observations from Huskies’ ninth practice of spring

It was an overcast, somewhat chilly morning on Montlake today, though the Washington Huskies made it through yet another spring football practice -- their ninth -- without any rain. So that’s sort of a victory in itself. Now for some notes and things.

--- Third-year sophomore right tackle Kaleb McGary, who injured his left knee early in Friday’s practice, was in attendance this morning but did not participate. He had what appeared to be a soft bandage-type wrap around his knee, and he spent time doing some conditioning drills on the side with other injured players.

There was one new injury: safety Trevor Walker, who had been working some with the No. 1 defense, did not suit up and did not participate in practice. He appeared fine on Friday, so perhaps his injury occurred during Saturday’s closed session.

--- Other players who did not participate or were limited in some capacity: Brayden Lenius, Quinten Pounds, Brandon Beaver, Austin Joyner, Jason Scrempos, Jared Pulu, Ben Burr-Kirven and Jake Eldrenkamp. Sidney Jones suited up but did not participate in any live sessions, and spent some time on the exercise bike. Trey Adams was back at left tackle during 11-on-11 periods after missing the last few practices. Likewise, Michael Kneip was back at left guard.

--- With Adams and Kneip back, the No. 1 offensive line also featured Coleman Shelton at center, Shane Brostek at right guard and Andrew Kirkland at right tackle. The No. 2 offensive line looked like this, from left to right: Jared Hilbers, Henry Roberts, Matt James, Jesse Sosebee and Devin Burleson.

--- Jake Browning seemed to have another strong practice, particularly in the final, 11-on-11 two-minute drill inside Husky Stadium. He capped a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with about a 30-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman receiver Andre Baccellia, whom Browning said is one of UW’s most improved receivers from last season. He also hit Baccellia for about a 20-yard gain on the previous play, and completed a pair of passes to tight end Darrell Daniels on the same series.

On the final series of the day, Browning led the offense inside the 25-yard line with completions to Forrest Dunivin and Baccellia, plus a pair of scrambles. But Budda Baker blocked Cameron Van Winkle’s 38-yard field-goal try as time expired.

During an 11-on-11 period earlier in practice, Browning dropped another perfectly-thrown deep ball into the hands of receiver John Ross III up the left sidleine against coverage from Kevin King and JoJo McIntosh.

New tight end Will Dissly caught about a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tony Rodriguez during the same period. Rodriguez later threw an interception in the end zone during a red zone drill, but I couldn’t quite tell who caught it.

Browning’s only interception of the day came during a 7-on-7 period. He threw it to King.

--- Speaking of Baker, he spent some time running routes on air and catching passes during a receiver-only position drill earlier in practice. That’s the first we’ve seen Baker with the offense this spring. Receivers coach Bush Hamdan appeared to be giving him some pointers as they jogged from the stadium field back to the practice field after the drill ended.

--- A funny exchange between Baker and sophomore cornerback Jordan Miller: the two had bracket coverage on a pass thrown up the left sideline to walk-on receiver Josh Rasmussen. The pass fell incomplete, and while a graduate assistant rushed over to give Miller props for breaking up the pass, Baker playfully chided Miller for not intercepting it, yelling “I gave that to you!” before adding “You could have picked it!”

--- Dante Pettis, Baccellia and Pounds each practiced fielding punts.

--- The Huskies resume practice with an 8:30 a.m. workout on Wednesday.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Notes, observations from Huskies’ ninth practice of spring."