Washington Huskies: Jake Browning’s Recovery Vitally Important
By Paul Taylor
Head coach Chris Petersen says his quarterback should be back in time, when the Washington Huskies start spring practices in late March.
As far as headlines go, the above one is not exactly the most imaginative. However, it doesn’t make it any less true — or more to point important — when it comes to the Washington Huskies‘ quarterback.
Understandably, there was a lot of concern surrounding Jake Browning, when he faded down the stretch. In particular, one of the most noticeable issues was an apparent loss of arm strength.
As such, when it turned out Browning had been battling a shoulder injury, there was a palpable relief among Huskies’ fans. He suffered the injury during the Huskies’ dominating win over Arizona State (and not, as first speculated, the week before against USC).
However, any relief was soon replaced by questions about how serious the injury was? With this in mind, Chris Petersen’s update on Wednesday will have gone a long way towards calming a lot of people.
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Speak to The Seattle Times‘ Adam Jude and the rest of the media, the Huskies’ head coach said: “Jake’s doing really good. He just had a minor procedure.
“It wasn’t like we were in the season and said, ‘This guy’s going to have to have something done after the season.’ It was after the season, (they) kept looking at it, kept looking at it and doctors thought, ‘If we do this one little thing that might help him down the road.’”
Certainly, this is extremely welcoming news. However, if that update wasn’t already enough, Petersen went on to advise Browning should be back for the beginning of spring practices.
Petersen said: “We’ve already had a plan. You know, Jake is one of those guys that just loves to throw and throw and throw.
“So from really when he got here, we’ve been trying to back him off (after) these long years, to make sure. And so he should be fine for spring ball, but also want to give these other (quarterbacks) some really good work in spring ball.”
Overall, the importance of the 20-year old to the Huskies’ program cannot be underestimated, as they look to build on last season’s trip to the College Football Playoffs. He deservedly won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, after tying the conference single-season record of 43 touchdown passes.
Considering that Browning managed this, despite playing the final four games with a shoulder injury, can only bode well for the Huskies. As he starts the road towards his third season under center for UW, the rest of the Pac-12 can consider themselves forewarned.
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Taking everything into account, what kind of season are you predicting from Browning in 2017? Do you expect him to have a similar campaign to last year, take a step back, or improve? Share your thoughts in the comments section.