Hank Brown is listed as the starting quarterback for No. 20 Iowa ahead of its Big Ten Conference game Friday night in Seattle against Washington.
But even Brown cast doubt on that listing during a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’d say there’s definitely still a little bit of a question, for sure,” said Brown, who suffered a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder during a 31-14 loss to No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday in Iowa City. “I’m trying to focus on taking it day-by-day and be able to do everything I can on my part to be able to be prepared and spend as much time as I can in the training room or hyperbaric chamber or whatever that looks like to be able to be out there.”
Brown was 12-of-27 passing for 132 yards and no touchdowns, with one interception, before exiting in the fourth quarter against the Buckeyes. He was replaced by Jeremy Hecklinski, who was 5-for-5 for 67 yards and led Iowa’s lone touchdown drive.
The Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1) got a boost in their running game last week with the return of L.J. Phillips Jr., who had been out since suffering a high ankle sprain in the season opener vs. Northern Illinois.
Phillips, who rushed for 1,921 yards and 19 touchdowns last season at South Dakota, had four carries for 16 yards against Ohio State — nearly half the Hawkeyes’ 39 rushing yards for the game.
“It was great to be back out there with my guys,” Phillips said. “We’ve played some really good defenses, and that’s just life. We’ve got to put our head down and keep going, keep trusting the process, and it’s going to get going.”
One thing Phillips isn’t looking forward to is the flight to Seattle.
“I’m really scared of flights. I hate flying,” he said. “I try to distract myself by watching YouTube. I usually pray. I hate heights. It’s shaky, there’s turbulence … I don’t mess with that. This is definitely the longest (flight I’ve been on). Four hours … way too long.”
The Huskies (3-2, 0-2) are coming off a 25-21 loss Saturday at then-No. 18 Southern California after opening conference play with a 27-24 defeat to visiting Minnesota on Sept. 26.
“These two losses, now three points and four points, they’re tough,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said. “They’re tough to go to sleep at night thinking about what could have been. You talk to the team about you’re one touchdown away from 5-0.”
The Huskies are led by dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who has completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns this season, with three interceptions.
Williams is second on the team in rushing with 191 yards, behind only Brian Bonner Jr. (215), a freshman who was elevated when Washington lost its top two running backs — Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar — because of injuries suffered in the season opener vs. Washington State.
“We’ve seen that he can run; he can get out,” Iowa defensive end Kahmari Brown said of Williams. “He’s a fast dude, so just do our job; know that we have to rely on each other to contain him and work together.”