The Huskies did something unusual with their football guide this season. They changed it from primarily a media guide to a recruiting tool.

That's an increasingly common practice in some parts of the country, but UW is the first Pac-10 school to take the plunge, and coach Tyrone Willingham is happy to be the trend-setter.

"I think it's one of those smart moves that (our sports-information office has done) to keep us moving in the right direction," he said at UW football media day Monday. "As you know, the college football landscape is always changing, and you want to be at the front of the curve and not the back of the curve. And this is one of those things that pushes it more to be a recruiting brochure than anything else to help us along those lines."

After a brief nod to the fact that it makes the guide a little less useful to the media, he added, "I think this is the right direction for us to go."

The video above tries to show what has changed.

Our Tuesday briefing from coach Tyrone Willingham included these notes:

* Most Huskies did "pretty well" in their annual start-of-camp conditioning tests.

* Freshman defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu is being eased in while still nursing a foot issue from high school.

* Chris Polk is one of several players being looked at at multiple positions (slot and tailback). Polk said that he thinks of himself as a tailback, and Willingham said he understands that Polk has "more sense of self" at tailback.

* No. 2 quarterback Ronnie Fouch has earned the right to some playing time this season, giving Jake Locker some rest while gaining experience for himself.

* Walk-on linebacker Fred Wiggs has been added to the roster.

* And finally, Willingham added that redshirt freshman tight end Chris Izbicki, whose recent legal troubles are detailed in a post below, also has been spoken to and disciplined within the team.

One day next week, UW center Juan Garcia will throw his 305-pound body into some 280-pound defensive lineman and push. That will be the key test of how well his injured foot has healed over the off-season.

If the foot stands up to the test -- and the tests that will follow every down for the rest of his career -- Garcia believes he can be back playing for the Huskies far earlier in the season than anyone had suspected last fall when the lisfranc injury to his left foot put his career in jeopardy. Garcia -- always the optimist -- hopes he could be ready for the opener Aug. 30 at Oregon, although he admits week two or three may be more realistic ... at least in part because his conditioning has been hampered by the injury.

Of course, the other side of Garcia's decision to skip surgery is that if there is a setback now, it probably means his career as a Husky is over.

"I was talking to (offensive line coach Mike Denbrock) about one of these days I might have to go out there full speed and either I’m going to be able to go, or it’s going to be the end of that because I’m tired of waiting," Garcia said. "I hate seeing my guys out there and I’m not there with them."

Coaches Willingham and Denbrock are naturally hoping the best for Garcia, but they also need to be ready to go into the season -- and perhaps through the season -- without him.

Meanwhile, three veterans who have battled knee injuries gave updates on their situations heading into camp:

*Kicker Ryan Perkins: “I’m doing good. … It’ll always go down hill, but right now it’s pretty good at this point.”

*Linebacker Donald Butler: “I can definitely say that I’m 100 percent – finally. It’s exciting. It’s exciting to be back.”

*Safety Jason Wells: “I’m ready to go. … I’m probably going to ease into things right now because I haven’t really hit or been that explosive without having my knee brace on.”

Here's our overview story, setting the stage for the coming season.

Here's a compilation of personnel notes as camp begins.

And here's a look at opening opponent Oregon, as the Ducks begin camp in search of a No. 1 quarterback.

Meanwhile, the Huskies will take the field for their second practice at 3:30 this afternoon. This one won't be open to the media, so there will be fewer observations today.

However, we do get access to players at noon and will hear from Coach Willingham at 2:45, so I'll pop in later with any news that comes from those.