Covington Deals with Painstaking Process of Establishing Himself at UW

The cornerback from Arizona is learning patience as he upgrades his secondary skills.

Jacobe Covington didn't care. Targeted on a pass play to the end zone, the University of Washington cornerback arrived well before the ball came to freshman Taj Davis and he made angry contact. 

For a guy who is perpetually stoic if not brooding as a player, and rarely reveals much emotion on the field, Covington manhandled the receiver to the point he ripped his helmet off him.

This, of course, was an invitation for others to join in, and Husky players pushed and shoved until they didn't and it was time to run another play.

Yet for Covington, this marked a second consecutive day for him outwardly losing his temper during fall practice. 

Twenty-four hours earlier, the corner and fellow freshman running back Jay'Veon Sunday exchanged heated unpleasantries following a play that involved plenty of contact and careened out of bounds.

With Covington as a younger player unavailable to the media to offer any explanations, it would seem that these outbursts indicate the highly regarded defensive back from Chandler, Arizona, is merely feeling impatient with his progress on the Husky depth chart and letting it all hang out.

This would be a common occurrence for the college program that hails itself as DBU, one often overloaded with talented defenders overeager to get out there and show what they can do, and forced to wait.

Elijah Molden, the leader of the Husky secondary for the last two years and now with the Tennessee Titans, admittedly was unsettled that it took him until his third UW season to become a starter and a focal player. 

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Covington, formerly a 4-star recruit, likely is going through those same sometimes exasperating growing pains, as well.

In spring practice, the Huskies tried him at safety, where both starting jobs remain open, which was unlike cornerback, where NFL prospects Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon are unmovable objects as the starters.

Rather than remain in safety contention, alongside other young hopefuls in Dominique Hampton and Julius Irvin, Covington returned to corner, which for the most part signaled he wouldn't soon be a first-teamer.

Yet coach Jimmy Lake saw enough growth in the touted defensive back's April performance to be greatly encouraged.

"He really took a step in spring," he said. "I'm so proud of him. He really took a huge step."

For the UW coaching staff, this is the annual juggle: bring in an excessive amount of secondary talent to Seattle and then scramble to convince all of these guys to stay happy, motivated and on a realistic pace to play meaningful minutes.

Yet Covington has a history of overthinking things. His Husky recruitment for instance.

In 2019, he committed to then Chris Petersen's program on August 17, decommitted on October 16 to consider his college options that included Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and others, and recommitted on Dec. 14 to the UW after the team shifted hands from Petersen to Lake. 

You never know what someone is going through. Be kind ...

— Jacobe (@jacobecovington) August 24, 2020

As a true freshman last fall, Covington appeared in one game for the Huskies and got a taste. Spring football next seemed to be a reality check, indicating he wasn't quite ready to become an immediate starter such as a Budda Baker or a McDuffie, that he had to wait longer for his big break. 

"We want all of our DBs to be tough," Lake said. "We've had some DBs who have played extremely tough around here for years, and Jacobe is going to be one of them."

Ego sometimes can complicate this process and send players elsewhere for instant gratification, spurred on by the ever beckoning transfer portal. It's the coaches' jobs to make them feel wanted and stay put.

Covington also posted about having some sort of surgery following spring practice to repair something that might have hampered his play, but it didn't make him miss any time. 

For now, he's a backup cornerback, still learning his trade, someone carrying high value. 

"His whole thing is playing on that next level where he learns the defense and understands what the offense is trying to do to him so he can play at a higher speed," Lake said. "He has all of the physical tools."

Covington, once rated the 12th-best corner prospect nationwide, clearly is a player full of promise. 

It will be interesting to see how long it takes the Arizonan to put it on full display at the UW, and how many little practice dust-ups it might take to assuage him and get through it all. 

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