University of Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. suffered a rib injury that won't enable him to practice on Monday in the very least and makes him questionable for Friday night's game at Purdue, Husky coach Jedd Fisch said.
At his week-opening media briefing, Fisch was asked directly if the struggling Williams would start against the Boilermakers (3-3 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) should he be able to receive medical clearance -- and the coach was non-committal.
"I don't know," the Husky leader said. "That would be such a hypothetical at this point because I don't envision being in that spot to have to make that decision. If he is, we'll talk about it as a staff and see how healthy he is. I don't want setbacks."
Over three seasons, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Williams has started the past 21 consecutive games at signal-caller for the Huskies (3-3, 0-3), but had his performance fall way off through the first six games this fall.
If a quarterback change is necessary, Stanford transfer Elijah Brown, who led the team to three touchdowns in the 41-24 loss to Iowa after replacing Williams, would draw his first UW starting assignment. He opened four games for the Cardinal in 2024 and 2025.
Brown, appearing in just his second game for the Huskies and 11th outing at his two college stops, completed 28 of 39 passes for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns against Iowa. The completions and scoring passes were career highs.
In his best showing for Stanford, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Browns hit on 27 of 39 passes for 284 yards and a score in a 20-15 loss to North Carolina and coach Bill Belichick in 2025.
Against Iowa, Williams played in six first-half drives and began to hear a cascae of boos after four 3-and-out possessions, a fifth that included a lone first down and a final series that ended with a Husky field goal.
He was sacked four times over 29 snaps
Williams walked with staffers to the locker room in the final minutes of the opening half with the UW trailing 27-3 and didn't return.
Fisch said he was dealing with the medical staff and undergoing testing during the second half.
Williams has season totals of 116 completions in 174 passing attempts for 1,396 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 3 interceptions. He's run 64 times for 183 yards and 2 scores, with a long of 36 yards.
Fisch said his quarterback will undergo added imaging tests and receive daily medical treatments while Brown takes the quarterback reps as the No. 1 guy.
In the end, the UW coach didn't sound all that optimistic that Williams would be ready to reclaim the starting job.
"There would have to be a fairly significant change for him to change that," Fisch said.
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