Out Half the Season, McMillan Appears Ready to Go for Oregon Game

While the University of Washington football team offers up an abundance of talented wide receivers, it has just one Jalen McMillan.

And, for two and a half games — or half of the season so far — the 6-foot-1, 192-pound junior from Fresno, California has been missed, out with a leg or knee injury.

McMillan sat out the second half against Michigan State and subsequent full games against California and Arizona.

On Saturday, he's expected to make his return just in time to face the Oregon Ducks, in a Pac-12 rivalry showdown and a nationally televised game that will necessitate all hands on deck.

"You should have seen him yesterday — he looked great, ready to roll," UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb chortled.

Previously, the last time the Huskies went without McMillan was for the 2021 season opener, when he sat out against Montana with a hand injury, and very bad things happened, when his team got upset 13-7 by the Big Sky visitor.

This time, the UW proved much more resilient in his absence yet acknowledges it's tough to go without one of its biggest offensive weapons, a guy with 139 career receptions, 1,895 yards and 15 touchdown catches. His contribution to the offense is immeasurable.

"It's a lot, a lot of things he does situation-wise," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. "I think he's tough everywhere on the field, but he controls the middle of the field really well."

DeBoer next went down a checklist of wide-receiver attributes that McMillan does in an exceptional manner and it was long.

"He's got that intelligence, that football intelligence to handle it all," DeBoer said. "He's instinctive. He understands match-ups and coverages, finding the right area. ... He's tough on third down. He's a great third-down guy who can move the chains for us, as well as in the red zone. He's just all-around, from one end of the field to the other."

Also, the UW coaches seemed to indicate that all veteran players who have been injured and recently absent from games have a chance to play against Oregon in senior safety Asa Turner, senior defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa, offensive junior guard Julius Buelow and McMillan.

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