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Early in Tuesday's practice, using a new venue for fall camp in Dempsey Indoor, it was time for the University of Washington football team to break out the new guy.
Six snaps into the 11-on-11 team play, the Huskies sent Kai McClendon, the SEC transfer from Mississippi State, on to the field for the first time at defensive tackle.
He lined up on a second-unit defensive line alongside Ball State transfer Darin Conley on the inside and Ohio State transfer Logan George and returnee Devin Hyde on the outside.
McClendon, out for 12 months after tearing up a knee with his former team, didn't mess around.
On his first play, the No. 1 offense threw a screen pass away from him.
For his second snap, McClendon got a hand on freshman running back Brian Bonner Jr. and helped stuff the play.
The best was yet to come.
On the third play, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. tried to throw one over the middle, McClendon stuck up a hand, deflected ball and it ended up in the hands of diving linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah.
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The lights to Dempsey Indoor went out before practice began and came on when the horn blew to start. | Dan Raley
"I think everybody knows what he's capable of," cornerback Dylan Robinson said.
Later McClendon got three more snaps, only with the No. 1 defense. While he wasn't directly involved, a fly sweep went for zero yards, a snap went flying over the quarterback's head and a pass fell incomplete.
His presence must have made everybody on the offense a little nervous.
"He wants to be back so bad," fellow defensive tackle Elinneus Davis said.
McClendon, of course, needs to get back into football shape and he was straining to keep up while everyone was running gassers -- sprints scross the width of the field.
Yet as coach Jedd Fisch said previously, the Huskies brought him in to be a big contributor and possibly a starter at some point with three seasons to play and they'll use him when they can.
"He really just got back," UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. "We're trying to see where he fits in. So he's got to have a good week of practice and and follow it up with a good week with game prep and we'll see where he's at."
McClendon, who's a Mississippi native, started the final five games of his freshman season with Mississippi State in 2024.
He went down in the Bulldogs' fall camp a year ago and has been rehabbing every since.
The Huskies were willing to bring him in as damaged goods through the transfer portal and wait for him to get healthy again.
"I think he's going to be a great piece to the defense," Robinson said.
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