Washington Huskies’ Jake Locker out against Oregon Ducks
When the Washington Huskies take on the nation’s number one team, the Oregon Ducks, on Saturday 6 November, they will have to do so without their starting quarterback, as Jake Locker has not been cleared to play by team doctors.
It was rumoured that Locker would be able to play against the Ducks in week ten even though the senior was dealing with what the team thought was a cartilage injury. However, it was recently revealed that the cartilage injury had turned into a fractured
rib, ensuring that Locker will not be able to make the start against Oregon.
The quarterback originally sustained the injury in a game against the Oregon State Beavers, causing him to miss the following week. However, he came back to play against Stanford in week 9, taking several hits and aggravating the injury even more. The club
is now hoping to have the youngster back when they take on UCLA on 18 November.
“[He] took a couple pretty good shots as you guys probably saw that kind of escalated this thing to a whole [other] lever for us,” said Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian. “It’s unfortunate. I know Jake wants to be out there in the worst way, but this is
the right thing to do.”
Locker is known for his hard-nosed play behind centre and his willingness to play through injuries. Nonetheless, he maintains that the club did not take the injury lightly.
“It was something that was checked out and making sure nothing changed from week to week. It’s something they made sure that I was comfortable with and my family was comfortable with,” said Locker. “It was getting better. I was sore, but that’s part of football.”
Locker has had another exceptional year for the Huskies, tossing 1,678 yards and 14 touchdowns for a 127.30 QB-passer rating.
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