UW notebook: Ty Jones might play against Oregon; team will be cautious with MJ Tafisi’s status

Ty Jones is healthy enough to play against Oregon.

So, what’s the complication?

To begin with, The Seattle Times reported on Aug. 31 that Jones — a 6-foot-4, 213-pound junior wide receiver — would likely miss the majority of the 2019 season with a dislocated lunate bone and torn ligaments in his right wrist. Indeed, the Provo, Utah, product has not appeared in Washington’s first seven games this season, though head coach Chris Petersen said he has been practicing fully for several weeks.

Petersen added Monday that Jones’ preference is to redshirt, thus preserving an extra season of eligibility. By rule, the junior could technically do that while appearing in up to four games in 2019.

But which games — if any — should he play in? And, given that he’s been watching from the sideline, how quickly could Jones get up to speed?

“We’re getting to that point in the season where you’re kind of trying to figure out what you want to do with him, how you want to play him, all those type of things – whether it’s the last (four) of the games or you pick and choose your games, and how he factors in. Because he has really not been factored in at all,” Petersen said.

“So, yeah, we’re kind of in that figuring-it-out process.”

It’s certainly possible the coaching staff will figure it out by the rivalry game Saturday against Oregon (or it already has, and it’s simply withholding that information). Jones, by the way, hauled in a 43-yard touchdown in the overtime defeat last season at Autzen Stadium. He led the Huskies with six receiving touchdowns in 2018 and had 31 catches for 491 yards, or 15.8 yards per reception.

If Jones and the UW coaches opt to scatter his four games throughout the rest of the season, it would make sense to activate him against Oregon this weekend, as well as against Utah on Nov. 2 and potentially the Apple Cup against Washington State or a Pac-12 championship game and/or a bowl game.

Tafisi has ‘significant’ stinger

Washington linebacker MJ Tafisi, who was taken off the field on a stretcher during the 25th-ranked Huskies’ win over Arizona, suffered a “significant” stinger and there is no timeline yet for his return to action, coach Chris Petersen said.

Tafisi was strapped down on the stretcher after being injured in the third quarter of the Huskies’ 51-27 victory Saturday but was moving his arms and waved at the crowd as the cart drove off the field.

Petersen said Tafisi was cleared to return to Seattle on the team flight after the game and was checked out by the team’s medical staff Sunday. He said Tafisi was able to attend team meetings Sunday evening.

Tafisi did not suffer a concussion on the play, Petersen said.

The coach did not have a timeline for Tafisi’s return. “I know we’ll be really cautious,” Petersen said. “We always are.”

Associated Press