Previously Injured Willis, Mills Appear Ready To Go Against Illinois

Two hours before kickoff prior to the Washington-Illinois football game, Carver Willis and John Mills walked into Husky Stadium wearing gray suits and without limping. No protective boots or knee braces.

A few minutes later on Saturday, the Big Ten availability report came out and confirmed the two Husky offensive linemen apparently no longer have any restrictions on them after the senior eft tackle and freshman left guard missed multiple games and forced Jedd Fisch's coaching staff to restock the line.

"They're trending up," Fisch said earlier in the week of their possible return.

However, UW junior edge rusher Isaiah Ward, who started two earlier games and played in all seven, wasn't nearly so fortunate as his teammates, turning up as on the Big Ten pregame player list as ruled out for the Illini match-up.

Also out for the game, but not for the season contrary to earlier reports in some instances, were UW sophomore wide receiver Rashid Williams (collarbone), senior safety CJ Christian (turf toe), sophomore tight end Kade Eldridge (foot) and senior offensive tackle Max McCree (foot).

Williams started the first two games, Eldridge the opener and McCree the past three outings.

Whether or not either one would start against Illinois wasn't clear, but the fact the 6-foot-5, 312-pound Willis or the 6-foot-6, 342-pound Mills weren't listed as questionable or out for the game probably meant they were ready to reclaim their previous roles.

in their absence, the Husky rushing attack had fallen way off, with senior running back Jonah Coleman averaging just 55.2 yards per game when one or both of those linemen were missing.

Willis, the Kansas State transfer, went down with a knee injury against Ohio State and missed the next three games. He was replaced by McCree, who suffered a foot injury last weekend at Michigan.

Mills came off the field at Maryland with a foot injury and sat out the past two games, getting replaced by redshirt freshman Paki Finau.

Ward, who gave way when previously injured senior Zach Durfee reclaimed his starting job at Michigan, appeared in all seven games. He has 15 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, plus 4 quarterback hurries and a pass break-up.

Listed as out for the season for the UW were junior linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah (knee), redshirt freshman safety Rahim Wright II (arm), senior nickelback Dyson McCutcheon (leg), redshirt freshman tight end Charlie Crowell (knee) and junior edge rusher Russell Davis II (knee).

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