Fisch Hedges Slightly on Bruener Availability, Labels Him 'Probable'

The Husky linebacker was hurt in the fourth quarter of the Apple Cup.

Linebackers Alphonzo Tuputala and Carson Bruener warm up before the Apple Cup. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Jedd Fisch seemed a little less optimistic about the chances of University of Washington senior linebacker Carson Bruener coming off an Apple Cup injury and showing no ill effects on Saturday against Northwestern.

Whereas on Monday the Husky coach said his team captain and second-leading tackler "should be fine," he left some doubt regarding Bruener's availability when addressing the media on Thursday following two days of practice.

"I'm still very hopeful," Fisch said. "I would say if this was the NFL, I would say probable. I think that's kind of where I would put it right now. But I can't say it's 100 percent."

If the 6-foot-2, 226-pound Bruener is unable to play, or start, he likely would be replaced by senior Bryun Parham or freshman Khmori House. The 5-foot-11, 223-pound Parham started the previous two seasons for San Jose State, earning All-Mountain West honorable-mention accolades in 2023. House, a 6-foot, 213-pound newcomer, started the Apple Cup in a three-linebacker scheme alongside Alphonzo Tuputala and Bruener.

With 8:14 left to play in the rivalry game with Washington State, Bruener went down on the ground for several minutes with some sort of injury issue and then jogged off the field holding his left shoulder in an awkward manner, suggesting he had suffered a possible dislocation or a stinger.

The Huskies generally don't share injury details outside the program, nor do most college football teams. The Big Ten, however, mandates that a conference team provide a player availability list that is released two hours before kickoff of each game.

Now in his fifth season of UW football, Bruener has been relatively healthy. He redshirted as a freshman during the COVID season of 2020, started the last five games as an injury replacement for Edefuan Ulofoshio and played exceptionally well in 2021,and provided solid play as a back-up the past two seasons, earning All-Pac-12 honorable-mention honors in 2023.

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