Inside The Huskies

UW's Rahshawn Clark Ruled Out of Spring Football

The sophomore nickel back was a five-game starter and played with reckless abandon.
Dan Raley|
Rahshawn Clark celebrates his interception against Illinois.
Rahshawn Clark celebrates his interception against Illinois. | Dave Sizer photo

Rahshawn Clark, the starting nickel back and one of the University of Washington's defensive standouts in the LA Bowl, will miss spring football practice after having shoulder surgery, coach Jedd Fisch said.

The 6-foot, 195-pound sophomore from Seattle emerged from the 38-10 victory over Boise State in mid-December with a pair of tackles and a second-quarter interception, besides obvious shoulder discomfort.

"He had to get his shoulder fixed," Fisch said at a Wednesday news conference.

Clark will sit out the full 15 practices in April, along with junior edge rusher Russell Davis II and junior linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah, both coming off knee injuries.

A five-game starter, Clark finished the season with 21 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 pass break-ups, a sack and a quarterback hurry. He played aggressively at all times, meaning an injury for him wasn't all that surprising.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Davis, who missed this past season and sat out all except three games in 2024 with different medical issues is expected to be cleared in May.

"He has a 10-month injury," Fisch said.

Russell Davis II leaves spring practice, holding an arm brace.
Russell Davis II leaves spring practice, holding an arm brace. | Dan Raley

The last time he played was 14 months ago, when he was named Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week for a 3-sack outing against UCLA, and then suffered a season-ending upper body injury the next week in practice and was done. He next tore up a knee over the summer.

Al-Uqdah was injured in the Apple cup against Washington State, his former team, and played in just three games for the Huskies.

In his abbreviated stint, the 6-foot, 237-pound linebacker he came up with 15 tackles, a tackle for loss and a half sack.

"Buddah's doing great," Fisch said.

Fisch said sophomore tight end Kade Eldridge, who suffered a foot injury against Michigan is "touch and go" for spring ball.

As for players receiving clearance to return for spring ball, the UW coach said senior edge rusher Isaiah Ward and sophomore safety Rahim Wright II will be ready to go.

Dealing with an unspecified injury, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Ward played in the first seven games, missed five and appeared in the LA Bowl. On the season, he had 15 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, a pass break-up and 5 quarterback hurries

Isaiah Ward (91) holds a running conversation with UW linebacker Xe'ree Alexander in the heat of the battle.
Isaiah Ward (91) holds a running conversation with UW linebacker Xe'ree Alexander in the heat of the battle. | Dave Sizer photo

The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Wright, whose injury wasn't revealed but was seen wearing a sling, has played in just one game over two seasons, the 2024 opener against Weber State.

The health of junior wide receiver Rashid Williams, who missed all except two games with a broken collarbone and some sort of hand or wrist injury, wasn't addressed, but he likely won't any delays in coming back.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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