⚡ CFB Dashboard

It's been a tough spring for Husky veteran offensive lineman Landen Hatchett. Instead of working out with his teammates on the field, he's been taking part in positional drills and working on the side with the trainers while healing up the left wrist that he injured against Illinois in late October of last year. Being off to the side and watching things from afar have helped give him a new perspective and he's been able to help one of the younger offensive linemen who has been thrust in the first team center spot this spring... On what spring has been like without being able to play in team sessions "Obviously I have to take advantage of the time being with the strength coaches a lot more. They've done a really good job with me, keeping my body where it needs to be, getting stronger where I can, focusing on everything but this right arm where I can't do much with it right now. When I'm on the field, I'm just trying my best to help out the young guys, continue to build myself up as a leader, it's been awesome watching Jake Flores get the reps that he's been able to get and seeing him improve every day, day in and day out. I've been really impressed with his mindset and how he's adapted to everything, he got baptism by fire a little bit, so he's done a great job of handling that and I'm really proud of him." On how he got hurt "I got hurt in play three of the Illinois game. I didn't know at the time that I had broken it, but I finished the game out which obviously didn't help. I'm sure I messed it up a little bit more and then after that, we clubbed it up for the bye week and the Wisconsin game. Learned how to snap lefty, played and started the Wisconsin game and midway through, figured Zachary Henning would be a better option with how things were going, but this spring, I'm really focused on taking weight off of it. I don't want to try and push it. Obviously it's disappointing not to be out here right now, but like I said, just taking advantage of the opportunities you do have. I think this spring I'm going to mainly keep it resting as much as I can and keep it healthy as much as possible." On when he felt it against Illinois "I knew (my wrist) was hurt. I got back to the huddle and I knew it was sore, but I didn't know it was broken, but I realized later in the game it was clicking when I was snapping under center. Figured something was a little bit more messed up then, but still didn't realize it was something crazy. Went and got it checked out at halftime, just like super-quick, did some strength tests and I was okay and after the game, we were signing the fight song and I was kinda holding my helmet up and it kinda flopped on me a little bit, so I was like 'okay, something's a little more messed up', but I just think during the game, there's so much adrenaline going on, you're almost trained to think it's nothing." On playing with the club on his hand "Obviously, especially at center you're switching what your off-hand is when you (have a club on) and then that whole week I went out pre-practice without a club so that Wisconsin didn't know, but as soon as, after that first drive, they came out in a new front that they hadn't shown before with the 'Jam Shade' and started attacking (us) with 'Pit Games' and you know, you don't have anything to grab with and you're slipping off and then you're relying your snap hand, which is not ideal." On if he'll snap left-handed once he's all healed up "No, I will go back to snapping with my right hand for sure." On how hard it was to snap left-handed "It was interesting. It kinda came up in a funny way, like the day after the Illinois game, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep playing or practicing and we were messing around in the training room and someone was like 'are you going to snap lefty?' and I was like 'yeah, of course' and I was messing around and I did it and it wasn't that bad so I went up to coach 'Switz' and he was like 'yeah let's do it', so I trained that whole bye week to do it and at practice got a lot of reps. It was different, but I wouldn't say it was the hardest thing ever." On being able to be more of a leader by watching and helping the younger players "I've got to work with Jake Flores and with him getting thrown in, it's been cool almost learning more about my game through him and things that I've learned over the years, like things that he might struggle with on a rep or a different rep or things that I've struggled with in the past and then he does some things too that I really like that I want to implement in my game. It goes back and forth and then really being able to take a step back and watch everybody, watch our defense and study our defense and that front seven that we have with the linebackers are doing a really good job. Shout-out to Jacob Manu, Xe'Ree (Alexander), 'Zay' (Zaydrius Rainey-Sale) and all those guys, they've been giving great looks to the guys and flying around with tons of energy. It's definitely a cool perspective to take a step back and not only worry about what I'm doing all the time." On going to Italy for his "Study Abroad" trip with other offensive linemen and how that's helped them "Everyone knows, the offensive line has to be a cohesive unit and be so connected. That trip, I've explained (to others), I've never felt a closer connection to people before until that trip. To be there with Champ (Taulealea) and Jake (Flores) and my brother (Geirean Hatchett) was awesome. We just continued to build on our bond and I do think it carries over to the field. Our communication is great, feeling comfortable around each other and shout-out to the guys for making it a great experience." On Flores and what has impressed him "He's very well-balanced within his stance and stagger. He's very technical. Obviously, he's young and can use a little more strength with his stuff. He's a very technical guy and he's on practice number seven or eight playing center which is very impressive with what he's been able to do going against the ones. Elinneus (Davis) is a dude and he's been working his butt off to compete with him and he's just been getting better day in and day out. I love the way he attacks film. He's always asking me a ton of questions about any little thing he sees. Sometimes he'll point out something I didn't even see, so, like I said earlier, we kinda go back and forth and feed off each other a little bit." On Kodi Greene and what he's seen "Kodi Greene has been super-impressive. The very first thing that stood out was, we were running 'PRP' (Player Run Practices) in the winter and he was coming off the ball and he just looks fluid and super-athletic. As soon as we saw that, a couple of the guys looked at each other and were like 'ok, this guy's the real deal', but just being able to keep up strength-wise and athletic-wise with these edges and linebackers that we have out here, it's been great and in the film room, coach Switz and coach Brewster have been doing an awesome job with him. They caught him up in the winter with the rest of us, taking the playbook and he's been learning it super-well, can answer all the questions, rarely misses a beat in the film room. That's a huge testament to Kodi."