SEATTLE (AP) -- Three new, inexperienced Washington Huskies are vying for a starting cornerback job.
And with just over two weeks until the season opener at Syracuse, none of them is clearly asserting himself to coach Tyrone Willingham.
The Huskies became cornered at an already weak position last week. Byron Davenport, a transfer from UCLA expecting to compete to start opposite senior Roy Lewis, pulled his hamstring in practice. The next day, fellow candidate Jordan Murchison spent a night in jail for failing to appear in King County Court last month on a felony assault charge.
Murchison remains on indefinite leave from all team activities. Willingham said Tuesday that he will wait until at least after Murchison's scheduled arraignment hearing Thursday morning before making a final decision about the place on the team for the senior junior college transfer.
"We'll let the (courtroom) events that need to be played out play out. And my job is to just sit back and continue to gather information and see what happens and then make a final decision," Willingham said. "Something could change. And I do hold the right to change my mind at any time."
Until then, Willingham is searching for some depth in a shallow pool.
He named three strong contenders to start: Cory Nicol, a junior college transfer and native of Woodinville, Wash., freshman Vonzell McDowell from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle and Matt Mosley, a redshirt sophomore from Chandler, Ariz.
Not one of them has played in a Division I game.
"Most likely that will be a process that will take a while to resolve, which could give a lot of guys a lot of opportunity to show themselves," Willingham said.
The coach said he sees an occasional flash of inspiration in practice _ hard hits and balls batted down _ but he's looking for consistency.
"It has to show itself, and sometimes you have to give that time to show," Willingham said.
Davenport is showing up each day to the closed practices in uniform, even though he's not back to 100 percent with the first injury of his career. He said he feels pressure of preseason practice, in which unproven players know they must improve every day.
His frustration is compounded by the simple question: when can he return to practice?
"I ask the trainers the same question, 'Just take it easy take it easy.' They haven't given me the official word yet," he said. "They told me, 'If you come back too early and you pull it, you might tear it.'"
Willingham originally estimated Davenport would miss two weeks, at most. But Tuesday he said he doesn't know Davenport well enough to say when he will return to practice, or even whether he will be ready in time for the Aug. 31 opener.
"He's a newcomer to our team," Willingham said. "How much of the mental process has he acquired, how much can he acquire without practicing?"
Lewis, the only cornerback on the roster with game experience, said the hard practices ahead will grind through all the newcomers' rough edges.
"They're in a position now where they have to mature really fast," Lewis said. "I think they're starting to realize college is a different mind-set than high school. You've got to grow up a lot faster."
Nicol, a junior, missed last season at Orange Coast, Calif., College with a groin injury and has been on campus just two weeks. But he's been practicing with the first team since Davenport got hurt.
Nicol visited Boise State before this season with the intent of walking on there. But the Broncos' high, dry desert just wasn't home.
"(The trip) made me realize that Washington is probably the place for me," Nicol said. "It's closer to home. I grew up watching Washington, you know? It's something I've always wanted to do."
McDowell said he's practicing with second string defense and with special teams.
"For me, it's staying focused and learning things I've never learned before in football," he said.
And though Mosley has been rotating between the first and second teams in practice, he's preparing as if he'll play.
"Last year, obviously I didn't play, but this year I will," Mosley said. "There's definitely a mental transition."