Turner Suffered Shoulder Injury, Likely Out for Stanford Game
Starting strong safety Asa Turner suffered a shoulder fracture against Arizona, further depleting a University of Washington defense that continues to lose key players at an alarming rate.
Jimmy Lake and his UW coaching staff don't comment on injuries right away. However, Turner won't play in Saturday night's game against the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, California, according to a source.
Defensive-backs coach Terrence Brown spoke with the media that covers UW football on Wednesday morning and discussed Turner's recent play, but he made no mention of his health setback.
While Turner was able to intercept a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game to seal a 21-16 victory in Tucson, he was seen noticeably favoring his right arm throughout the fourth quarter. He appeared to get hurt while lunging at a scrambling Arizona quarterback Will Plummer.
This means that both Husky starting safeties against Arizona likely aren't available for the upcoming Stanford game.
Junior free safety Alex Cook remains in concussion protocol after taking a shot to the head against the Wildcats and is classified in a "week-to-week" capacity, but he can't be expected to be ready to face Stanford.
After he was strapped to a stretcher and taken away on a motorized cart, Cook gave way in the Husky lineup to sophomore Dominique Hampton, who stands to make his first career start against the Cardinal.
With Turner out, sophomore Julius Irvin or redshirt freshman Kamren Fabiculanan likely will draw the game-opening assignment at strong safety.
Those two young defensive backs began the season as the Husky starting safeties. However, Fabiculanan lasted just one game as a first-teamer and Irvin two games once the Huskies opened at 0-2.
The only other safety option is sophomore Cam Williams, who started two of the first five games before injuring his hands. He's missed the last two games and his playing status is unclear.
A 6-foot-3, 205-pound sophomore, Turner found himself buried well down the depth chart when the season began. He started two games and was just beginning to revitalize his career when he suffered the shoulder injury.
Turner has 22 tackles and a pair of interceptions this season, with his other pass theft coming against Oregon State. He's started 11 Husky games over the past three seasons.
To begin the week, Lake offered the somber news that sophomore inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, the team's leading tackler much of the season, suffered an arm injury against UCLA, had surgery and was done for the year.
Also, sophomore defensive tackle Taki Taimani, the Huskies' most effective player up front, sat out the Arizona game with an unspecified injury and his return is unknown.
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