Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen announced Friday that quarterback Cyler Miles will take a leave of absence from the team. This does not mean that Miles is finished with the program, but rather offers him an opportunity to focus on things outside of football.
“Cyler is dealing with some things in his life that are more important than football, and he felt it was important to take some time away from the game,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said in a news release. “We are working to support him in any way we can and hope he returns back to the football field soon.”
Miles did not violate any team rule and will remain enrolled in classes while he reprioritizes his life. A year ago, Miles was punished for a violation of team rules that led to his suspension from spring practices as well as the season opener. Still, Miles threw for 2,397 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions while being the huskies regular starter. More is expected of the sophomore quarterback during his junior campaign and that improvement begins by Miles figuring out his life outside football.
Meanwhile, the Huskies have three remaining scholarships quarterbacks on the roster between Jeff Lindquist, K.J. Carta-Samuels and Jake Browning. None of those options, however, have played a significant amount of minutes throughout their careers and Miles is almost undoubtedly the team’s starter for the 2015 season. Miles will likely face the stiffest competition from Lindquist, who appeared in four games during the 2014 year but struggled with his accuracy.
*Section Photo credit to Otto Greule Jr., Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Ed Szczepanski, USA Today Sports
