UCLA Football Practice Report: October 11
A few Bruins had been dropping out with seemingly long-term injuries over the past few weeks, center Sam Marrazzo and running back Ethan Fernea chief among them.
But while Marrazzo is still hanging around Wasserman Football Center in street clothes, Fernea is back in uniform.
UCLA football (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) was back on the practice field Monday morning after its win over Arizona, and it initially seemed like the group of injured players had remained largely the same since the media last got a look on Wednesday. But Fernea wasn't in the same crowd as Marrazzo, cornerback Mo Osling, running back Christian Grubb, linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald, defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi and offensive lineman Thomas Cole this time.
Instead, Fernea was on the field, working out with his teammates in the opening special teams pursuit drills on the north field with assistant head coach Brian Norwood.
Fernea, who told the media outside of practice on Sept. 29 that his undisclosed surgery went well, was wearing a bulky wrap around both his right hand and wrist Monday. He went from the opening pursuit drills to running with the special teams kickoff coverage team, and he even lined up on the other side of the field to run routes.
Playing with a club as a hand isn't unprecedented, but it's more often than not defensive players who get the chance to do so. Tight end Rob Gronkowski did it for a bit with the New England Patriots back in the day, but that had a lot to do with how valuable he was as a blocker.
Considering how difficult it is to catch passes with one hand in cast, that must mean coach Chip Kelly and his staff think incredibly highly of Fernea as a special teams player. It remains to be seen if he plays Saturday against Washington though, even with his full participation Monday.
Edge rusher Mitchell Agude went down with an injury Saturday in the first half versus Arizona, only to return the next drive. He was a full participant on Monday, as was defensive lineman Jay Toia, who got hurt on one of the final plays of the night against the Wildcats.
Outside of the injury updates, there were a few things of note that popped up during the actual practice period on Monday as well.
Inside linebackers coach Don Pellum was running a drill with his position group in the northeast end zone, as the linebackers took a few steps backwards and made cuts to grab interceptions. JonJon Vaughns showed off his outfielder skills he put on display for UCLA baseball in the spring, but it was Kain Medrano who earned some special praise from Pellum after making a nice one-handed grab.
On the other side of the defensive field, defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro was running a flat coverage drill with the defensive backs, and Norwood was there to help 1-on-1 with guys after each rep. Safety Quetin Lake, striker Qwantrezz Knight and cornerback Cam Johnson made up the first group that went, and the second group included Stephan Blaylock, Shea Pitts and Obi Eboh taking their respective positions.
The third grouping that went in the drill shifted things around though, with DJ Warnell playing safety up top, Jay Shaw coming in at corner and Blaylock moving down into the same spot filled by Knight and Pitts in previous reps. Blaylock has been so effective as the boundary safety that it would be an interesting choice to move him into the striker/nickel role, but it doesn't seem like his participation in the drill was any real sign of a position change.
Martel Irby was next up at striker, and Kenny Churchwell III and Devin Kirkwood came in to play safety and corner, respectively.
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