UCLA Football Practice Report: August 15

With Dorian Thompson-Robinson now back in pads for the Bruins, the major storylines of fall camp will have to come from outside the quarterback room.

Thompson-Robinson was making his throws, Ethan Garbers, Chase Griffin and Chase Artopoeus looked alright and Kajiya Hollawayne and Parker McQuarrie were overthrowing guys but have the mechanics and physical aspects down pat. Not much has changed there, and with just three sessions of fall camp remaining for UCLA football, it likely won't before the season starts.

Linebacker Adam Cohen was on the stationary bike again Sunday, switching off with receivers Colson Yankoff and Bradley Schlom, who had also been in and out for the past week. Safety Quentin Lake was back participating in drills after spending most of Friday warming up on the side. The same goes for linebacker Kain Medrano, but he spent some time over by the weight room staying loose.

In addition to Cohen and Medrano, other linebackers seemed to be handling injury issues of their own. Ale Kaho and Jordan Genmark Heath were working alongside Medrano with a trainer midway through the portion of practice open to the media. Genmark Heath was back with the inside linebackers for their next drill, but we didn't see Kaho return before time was up.

That's four inside linebackers – given, one is a reserve – who are hampered in some way. Their partial participation shows it's nothing serious at the moment, but their combined absence would leave only Caleb Johnson, Damian Sellers, JonJon Vaughns and Jeremiah Trojan left standing in the depth chart at Will and Mike. Not completely devoid of talent, but not much established production and certainly not a lot of depth.

Most of the opening 20 to 30 minutes of practice was, once again, dedicated to special teams. Nicholas Barr-Mira went 5-for-5 of his field goals, and Luke Akers went 4-for-4. They maxed out at roughly 40 and 45 yards, respectively, in the up-tempo drill.

Barr-Mira was also the first punter to take a snap in the ensuing drill, with Akers stepping in after him. Akers was the punter in all seven games last season.

Receiver Kyle Philips was the No. 1 return man, but the Bruins' return team wasn't exactly running at full speed. Texas A&M transfer receiver Kam Brown was next to take a return – he muffed his first attempt and didn't dive to recover it before freshman defensive back Isaiah Newcombe scooped it up. He bounced back by fielding the next two cleanly.

The rest of practice was a lot of the same – defensive linemen working with sleds in the northwest corner, linebackers training in the north red zone, defensive backs practicing footwork and interceptions and the offense running things on the far field.

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