Well, that certainly didn’t take long.
Thursday, Washington announced that tight end Joshua Perkins and running back Willis Wilson had been dismissed from the football program for violating unspecified team rules. Friday, however, head coach Steve Sarkisian channeled his inner Frank Drebin.
In a somewhat unexpected move, Sarkisian confirmed Friday to media covering the team that both of the players have been reinstated.
“We gathered some more information on the situation and it felt like the right thing to do,” Sarkisian said. “We met with some of the leaders on the team. ... Their punishment will be handled in-house and I think that they are thankful for the opportunity to get back and I think that their teammates are happy to have them back.”
Both Perkins and Wilson were back practicing with those teammates Friday. The Tacoma News Tribune reported that the two players took several reps with the No. 2 offense in their first practice back.
Perkins, a redshirt freshman, was recently moved from wide receiver to tight end. He was a three-star member of UW’s 2011 recruiting class.
The sophomore Wilson is a walk-on who, at the time of the dismissal, was described as the No. 4 running back, but also “was being counted on to provide some depth this season with Deontae Cooper again out for the year with a knee injury.”