SEATTLE — Meanwhile, a couple of thousand miles northwest of Nashville …
While two of the most popular quarterbacks the city of Seattle has ever known continued their battle at the Tennessee Titans’ training camp, the University of Washington football team quietly opened its fall camp
Monday under the leadership of a new signal-caller.
Jake Locker is gone, and he’s not coming back.
“This is about Keith Price. It’s not about Jake Locker anymore,” UW coach Steve Sarkisian said early Monday afternoon, a few hours before a new era of Husky football began with a Price-led practice at Husky Stadium.
While the effervescent Price has been keeping one eye on the Titans’ battle between the rookie Locker and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck — he spent part of his spring working out with both of them — the Huskies’ new starter put his full focus on UW when practice began Monday afternoon.
“You accept new roles every year, and I accept the role, and I’m ready,” said Price, a third-year sophomore who beat out freshman Nick Montana during spring practices.
Price said he found out immediately after the spring game that he would be the starting quarterback heading into the fall. Sarkisian made a public announcement a few days later, and Monday marked the first time that Price faced the media as the official starter.
The quarterback with the never-waning grin said he was proud to get the job heading into camp but added that he hasn’t won anything yet.
“I was excited,” he said of being told in April that he had beaten out Montana. “But still, I knew I had a long way to go. We still have four weeks before the season, so I’m just going to keep trying to get better.”
His first practice as the starter fell short of awe-inspiring, but Sarkisian was encouraged by the way his new starter held up through an inconsistent effort.
“He missed a couple of plays, but that didn’t ruin his day,” Sarkisian said. “He went out and made some other plays and did some good things. I think that’s the mentality you get when you’re the starter.”
Sarkisian added that the entire team has rallied around Price as the starter.
“For the team, there’s a little bit of a calming effect when you know who your guy is,” Sarkisian said.
It’s only natural that the Huskies will have to adjust to life after Locker. The past four fall camps have opened with him as the starter, so seeing a different quarterback behind center is somewhat jarring.
“When you have a guy who’s made the kind of impact that he made here, obviously you kind of look around and go: ‘Where is he?'” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said Monday. “But that stopped right when we came out (Monday) with our new guys. It’s a new time here, and we’re moving forward, and Jake’s moving forward.”
Nussmeier said that part of the current process is finding out what strengths Price brings to the table, adding that it’s possible the Huskies might do more out of a conventional formation with the quarterback directly behind center.
Price is open to whatever is asked of him. He might be the starter, but the Los Angeles native has plenty of work to do to be ready for the Sept. 3 opener.
“I’m just trying to better myself,” he said. “I’m not worried about the competition or the quarterback situation. I’m just trying to better myself so I can better the team.”
Having played with Locker and worked out with Hasselbeck, Price has some NFL buddies who could help steer him in the right direction. But inquiries to that part of the country have thus far gone unanswered.
“I’ve texted (Locker) a couple of times, but I know he’s busy so he hasn’t got back to me yet,” Price said with a laugh.
Locker is officially in the Huskies’ rearview mirror, and it’s up to Price to captain the ship now.
As the least experienced quarterback among Pac-12 starters, and one of the youngest players on a veteran-laded offense, Price knows the pressure is on.
“There’s always going to be pressure, being the quarterback,” he said after Monday’s session. “If we win, I’m going to get all the praise. And if we lose, I’m going to get bomb-rushed.
“I’m going to just keep on staying level-headed and keep on grinding.”
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