Washington will be without its leading returning receiver when it plays Auburn to open the 2018 season.

Tight end Hunter Bryant, who had 22 catches for 331 yards and a touchdown in nine games as a true freshman for the Huskies last season, had offseason knee surgery and will be out until at least late in the season.

"He's not going to be ready at the start of the season," Washington coach Chris Petersen said at Pac-12 media day. "May end up being his redshirt year, especially with the four games that we can play. But he will not be ready at the start of the season. It will be a month or two before we can even kind of really see where he's at. The surgery went really, really well."

Bryant, who posted a cryptic message about the injury to his left knee captured by the Seattle Times in June, was on ESPN.com's Freshman All-American team last year.

He first injured his left knee against UCLA on Oct. 28 and missed the remainder of the regular season but returned for the Fiesta Bowl, though he was limited.

Washington has senior Drew Sample, who has made 26 career starts, and redshirt-freshmen Jacob Kizer and Cade Otton at tight end.

The leading returning receiver for the Huskies, both in catches and yards, is Aaron Fuller, who had 26 receptions for 291 yards and a touchdown last season.

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.