Washington Huskies safeties coach Taylor Mays speaks to the media after a practice Thursday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team had its first day of full padded practice Thursday at Husky Stadium, the sixth overall practice in fall training camp. The Huskies weren't quite at full strength throughout their first full-speed practice, but there were encouraging signs from several players looking to earn starting roles and more looking to earn consistent reps this season. Here's several notes from the team's first full padded practice Thursday: Lawson, Moss continue to make an impact Second-year wide receiver Chris Lawson and sixth-year pass-catcher/Kennesaw State transfer Christian Moss are two players vying for a starting spot on the offense this season. Both had standout practices and touchdowns receptions in the team's practice session Tuesday, and continued their strong weeks Thursday. Lawson received extended reps due to usual starting slot receiver Dezmen Roebuck being away from practice due to personal reasons. He received several first-down runs and scored a 44-yard touchdown run on a sweep. Moss also had several first-down catches in team drills as well as two touchdown grabs. "You look at Chris Lawson and Christian Moss and those guys are openly stepping up trying to take that (starting) role," UW safeties coach Taylor Mays said after practice Thursday. "Those guys have been making awesome plays the last five, six practices. So, our guys have been, competitively, trying to shut down those guys at the same time. It helps us because it's almost an 'iron sharpens iron' thing."
Chris Lawson pic.twitter.com/FQUPR4yw98 — Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) August 13, 2026 Gavin Day continuing to improve There were few players as improved from the start to end of spring practice as first-year safety Gavin Day. The four-star Class of 2026 recruit made several plays in the spring game, including several impressive open field tackles. Day has continued his improvement through the first week-and-a-half of fall practices. He intercepted a pass intended for third-year wideout Justice Williams during team drills. "I love Gavin Day," Fourth-year safety Alex McLaughlin said in a postgame interview after practice Thursday. "I've tried to take him under my wing and he made great plays today. ... (He's) gotten just so much more comfortable in this scheme." Running backs show flashes The starting running back position is another that Washington needs to sort through before the beginning of the season against the Washington State Cougars on Sept. 6 at Husky Stadium. The defensive line was able to keep the running game mostly in check during team drills and also stopped the short-pass game and screen game. However, several running backs were still able to breakaway for chunk yardage at various points in practice. second-year Quaid Carr, first-year Brian Bonner, sixth-year Trey Cooley and fourth-year Jayden Limar all had decent runs Thursday.