How Huskies plan to support Russell Davis II through another injury layoff

SEATTLE – Jedd Fisch summed up Russell Davis II’s situation in just seven words.

“It’s a shame,” the Washington coach said Tuesday. “It’s a tough deal.”

Davis, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound edge rusher from Chandler, Ariz., was ruled out for the season by Fisch during Big Ten media days after suffering a patellar tendon injury during the offseason. It’s another brutal blow for Davis, who missed the first eight games of last season with an undisclosed injury, returned for three games including a massive three-sack performance against UCLA to help UW clinch bowl eligibility, then suffered a season-ending triceps injury.

“I really felt like he was going to be a huge part of our success this season,” said Fisch, who invited Davis and his father Russell Davis Sr. – a nine-year NFL defensive tackle and Super Bowl 42 champion who spent the 2006 season with the Seahawks – to a donor event in Scottsdale, Ariz., this summer because of how important Fisch thought Davis was going to be to the team this year.

Fisch also reaffirmed the program’s commitment to Davis, who transferred to UW from Arizona to follow Fisch and defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi before the 2024 season, and said the edge rusher was in “great spirit” despite suffering an injury Fisch called fluky.

But Davis is still in for a significant injury layoff for the third time in less than two years. Major injuries take players away from the program as they undergo rehab by themselves. It can be a long, lonely process to go through once, not to mention a second and now third time.

Aaron Van Horn, UW’s recently promoted edge rushers coach, said he’s trying to keep Davis mentally engaged with the team by continually involving him in meetings and position-group meals. Van Horn added that Fisch has ensured there are resources for players going through long injury layoffs, including multiple sports psychologists who can talk players through the difficult process.

“There’s no easy way about it,” Van Horn said. “It’s been a tough trek for him, and I feel for him. He’s an unbelievable kid. Mentally tough.”

One player who knows a bit about what Davis is going through: Fifth-year edge rusher Zach Durfee.

A 6-5, 256-pound defensive lineman, Durfee was limited to just six games during the 2024 season while dealing with turf toe – a sprain of the metatarsophalangeal joint in the big toe – on both feet.

Durfee played in the first three games before sitting out UW’s 24-5 win against Northwestern. He returned for two games, against Rutgers and Michigan, before missing four consecutive games. Durfee briefly appeared for nine snaps against UCLA, then was forced out for the rest of the season.

Durfee, who was forced to sit out most of UW’s 2023 College Football Playoff season because of now-defunct transfer rules, called 2024 one of the hardest years of his life.

The first few weeks after surgery, Durfee said, were the most difficult because he wasn’t able to take care of himself and was unable to train. The Dawson, Minn., product noted that most high-level athletes’ endorphins are tied to working out and training, and Durfee said his moods were massively impacted while stuck in bed recovering.

“Just pretty brutal,” he said. “Pretty awful. You can’t really live like a normal human. You’re kind of stuck in your bed.”

Beginning rehabilitation doesn’t solve everything either, Durfee said, because the first couple months often show very little progress. Frustration builds.

“You kind of go in a little dark spot,” he said, “and then it’s just a lot of rehab every day.”

Durfee said he appreciated teammates who took the time to come speak to him in the training room as he went through his rehab workouts, and hopes to offer the same support for Davis. Those relationships, he said, along with continued improvement, helped Durfee overcome the loneliness and frustrations of a long rehab.

“That’s what I try to do,” Durfee said, “because I also understand you don’t always want people coming up and throwing a pity party. So just like real conversations and it’s like, ‘Hey, I understand. I know you probably don’t feel very good right now, but it gets better.’”

The edge rusher said he’s almost thankful for the experience as he prepares for the upcoming season, no matter how difficult the period was for him. Durfee said he gained an appreciation for the amount of work other injured athletes have overcome, and was forced to learn about his own limits, too.

“I just learned that it couldn’t break me,” he said. “I’m back again.”