The Huskies hit the field in the heat this afternoon for a full pads workout.

Jake Locker was still on the sidelines, but as the media portion of practice ended, he was doing some pretty serious running drills that indicated his return may be imminent.

Locker spent a few minutes doing some stopping and starting, backpedaling and then changing direction, under the guidance of a trainer. He appeared to be going about two-thirds speed or so. He then did some sprinting, again probably going about two-thirds speed, doing some 40-yard dash type runs, testing the strained left hamstring suffered a week ago.

Today marked the ninth practice Locker has missed of 29 UW will hold prior to the Oregon game. UW coach Tyrone Willingham did not mention Locker when talking about injured players in his press briefing earlier in the day.

Also out today were C Matt Sedillo (concussion) and TE Michael Gottlieb (hamstring) while RB Brandon Yakaboski (hip flexor) was in helmet and shoulder pads and shorts, obviously sitting out full-contact drills. And reporters couldn't find RB Brandon Johnson, who has been sidelined with a calf injury. He may have been elsewhere getting treatment.

Practice began with three sessions of the Husky drill --- a mano-a-mano contest between two players ringed by everyone else --- though it was hard to see who the participants were.

Then there was a quick round of kicking with each of the place kickers taking one turn --- Ryan Perkins appeared to make his from about 34 yards, Jared Ballman appeared to miss from about 39, and Erik Folk was right down the middle from about 44 yards. Ronnie Fouch handled the holds but coaches are also experimenting with having the kickers do some holding, as well. Carl Bonnell handled that task for the Huskies the last two years.

As noted up top, this was one of the hotter practices of the year for the Huskies. C Juan Garcia noted reporters and a few UW officials sitting under an easy-up, put in place for Picture Day last weekend, and asked jokingly "you guys just going to stand in the tent?'' Well, for 25 minutes anyway.

PROGRAMMING NOTE --- Given that we had no player access today, we won't be publishing the usual Husky Nightcap later tonight. UW will hold two practices tomorrow.