UW Football Fall Camp Notebook: August 21st, 2026
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The 13th day of Washington Husky Fall Camp was shorter than usual, initially listed as a 9 AM start before being pushed back last night to 10 AM. As the Huskies prepare for tomorrow night’s fan fest and mock game, Friday morning's session largely focused on individual position drills and special teams action. Here’s our UW Football Fall Camp notebook from Friday, August 21st, 2026, which includes quotes from cornerbacks Dylan Robinson and Emmanuel Karnley, as well as secondary coach John Richardson.
Photos during the 13th Washington Husky Fall Camp practice on the East practice field of Husky Stadium on Friday, August 21st, 2026. (Photos by Charles Hamaker)
Two familiar faces missing from practice
Defensive lineman Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei and kicker Grady Gross, who had seemingly rejoined Washington in the past few weeks thanks to a nationwide order from a District Court judge in Colorado that guaranteed all student-athletes who began their collegiate careers during the 2022-23 academic year a fifth and final season of eligibility, were absent from this practice.
That’s because two hours before players started trickling out from the Husky locker room for the session, a U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay. It reverses the nationwide order, coming off a 2-1 decision by the court of appeals panel, which now means that student-athletes who received that fifth season from Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s July 31 injunction in Brock Wisne v. The NCAA are no longer eligible to participate in the 2026-27 season.
The status of Uiagalelei and Gross remains fluid, as this stay doesn’t mean the NCAA has won the appeal. Additionally, the Huskies don't desperately need those two, and they don’t play a Power Four opponent until late September, when Minnesota comes to town to begin Big Ten play. It will be interesting to continue monitoring the situation for those two, as the rest of the nation does for their fifth-year athletes.
Regarding familiar faces, wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck was back in full gear for this session after he had gone through Thursday’s workout in a T-shirt and shorts. Second-year cornerback Ramonz Adams Jr. and fourth-year linebacker Xe’ree Alexander were both in gold non-contact jerseys.
Seventh-year offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett was seen practicing at the right guard spot with the first-team offense, while second-year lineman Jack Shaffer was with the second-team line at the left guard spot after largely being limited this camp.
While this practice session didn’t feature many eleven-on-eleven drills or much offense against defense, a few segments of the day provided excitement beyond individual drills.
Second-year cornerback Dylan Robinson has not participated in the team periods of practice throughout this fall camp, but according to him, he’s approaching a return to full action. In a post-practice media scrum, Robinson said he expects to be fully cleared on Sunday, the day after the team’s mock game.
Third-year cornerback Rahshawn Clark during the 13th Washington Husky Fall Camp practice on the East practice field of Husky Stadium on Friday, August 21st, 2026. (Photos by Charles Hamaker)
Third-year cornerback Rahshawn Clark, a Garfield High School alum, made perhaps the most noticeable play of the day during the few 11-on-11 reps that took place. During the scrimmage period, the second-team offense, led by quarterback Elijah Brown, took on the starting defensive unit.
Brown, a transfer from Stanford this past offseason, was looking for freshman wideout Trez Davis, but Clark was able to perfectly time his break to jump in front of the ball for a clean interception. The takeaway highlights a focus for secondary coach John Richardson this year, as the Husky defense looks to shave a touchdown off its points allowed total from last season.
“As a position group, just making sure we come down with the interception that we have, and then hoping you guys have been seeing there’s more production on the ball than we’ve probably seen in the past, and so we’re trying to make more plays; we’re coming down with the ball, intercepting the ball like Rahshawn did today. It’s just making a play and finishing with the ball in their hands. So that’s kind of the focus, and that’ll help; the turnovers will help limit touchdowns at the end of the day.”
A fun end to practice
About an hour before it was expected that the practice would end, two lines formed to create a tunnel running up and down the East practice field. The entire roster and the majority of Washington’s coaching staff created the two lines, with senior punter Hunter Green standing on the South end of the tunnel. Two people stood on the North end, opposing Green: defensive quality control coach Korey Rush and defensive tackle Darin Conley.
Green would deliver consecutive end-over-end punts to the two, one after the other. Rush completed the catch cleanly, meaning that the coaching staff got the rest of the day off, drawing a nice chorus of cheers from those on the field. Next up stepped Conley, a fourth-year defensive lineman who transferred in from Ball State. Like Rush, Conley cleanly caught Green’s booming punt, resulting in the players getting the rest of the day off ahead of tomorrow’s mock game.
As soon as Conley secured the ball, he was mobbed by his teammates as their cheers erupted. Special teams coordinator Chris Petrilli, who stated a few days ago that he hadn’t decided yet who was at the top of the list for return duties, joked with the media after practice that Darin Conley would not be in the running for the top return job. When it comes to that pecking order, cornerback Rahshawn Clark and running backs Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar were receiving the ball during a kickoff drill.
It was an entertaining end to a shorter practice session for the Huskies, who prepare to amp things up during tomorrow’s Fan Fest and mock game.
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Cover photo and photos in this article by Charles Hamaker.
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