Matt Rhule taking Marcus Washington recovery one day at a time

Nebraska wideout Marcus Washington is on the cusp of making a return to the lineup for Nebraska. But head coach Matt Rhule isn’t getting too far ahead of himself.

Washington recently had a cast removed from his hand as he recovered from a broken bone. Rhule was optimistic about his return a few weeks ago, but isn’t pushing things.

“Taking it one day at a time. Marcus is — he’ll be healthy. The thing about Marcus is he’s played so much football. If anything, he probably knows the offense better now than he did before because he hasn’t been practicing,” Rhule said Friday.

But the time away from the practice field hasn’t been wasted for Washington.

“His only focus has been on coaching the other guys. He’s done a great job coaching the young players and so I’m sure Marcus will be ready,” Rhule said.

Rhule was optimistic about Washington’s path back to the field earlier in camp

On Aug. 12, Rhule had hoped Washington could’ve been back in practice as soon as the subsequent week. But he’s not overly concerned about the long run for Washington.

While the recovery cost him a chance to participate in scrimmages so far, Rhule expected he might’ve been back after a weekend off.

“I was hoping he’d be able to do something today,” Rhule said. “Probably early next week. All signs point to him being healthy for the long run.”

Now, Nebraska is still waiting day-by-day to see when Washington will be ready to go.

Washington was highly productive for Nebraska in 2022. He caught 31 passes for 471 yards but just one touchdown. His receptions and receiving yard marks were both good for second on the team behind Trey Palmer, who is off to the NFL.

Prior to play at Nebraska, Washington began his career at Texas where he played three seasons before transferring.  

Rhule offered an update on defensive back Marques Buford on Friday

Nebraska will likely be without corner back Marques Buford until at least mid-season, Rhule said on Friday. The defensive back has been out since getting carted off the field during a November game against Wisconsin last year.

Coming up on the 2023 season, Buford is still working his way back. And Rhule has no desire to rush the cornerback into action again.

“The big thing with us, because this is his second time having a major injury, we just don’t want to rush him back. We kind of communicated with the family early on, and him, ‘Hey, we’re going to put you out there when you’re ready but not a day too early,’” Rhule said. “So, he, according to the doctors, had a significant jump just this past week. So he’s beginning, going to hopefully begin to progress into on-the-field work.

“I think right now, I wouldn’t look for him any time soon on the field. I think it’s more a of a, maybe Week 5? Maybe Week 6? If not, maybe it’s the last four games of the year and he redshirts this year and plays for two years.”