Rough passage, reportedly (6)
I believe the answer is:
coarse
'rough' is the definition.
('coarse' can be similar in meaning to 'rough')
'passage reportedly' is the wordplay.
'passage' becomes 'course' (I've seen this before).
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'course' sounds like 'COARSE'.
(Other definitions for coarse that I've seen before include "Inferior" , "Boorish" , "Rough, uncouth" , "Rough or rude" , "Large-grained or rough to the touch" .)