UCLA Football Practice Report: October 13

The Bruins' practice environment is very different than the one they could be playing in up north on Saturday.

UCLA football (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) held its final practice open to the media before heading up to play Washington (2-3, 1-1) on Saturday. While the weather started off a little brisk by Los Angeles standards Wednesday morning, it was still in the mid-60s without a cloud in the sky. By the time the game kicks off in Seattle later this week, temperatures could be approaching 49 degrees and there's a 49% chance of rain at night.

Coach Chip Kelly said the team was planning on doing wet ball drills to help prepare, but none of them were on display in the opening few periods of practice that the media could watch. Keep in mind that UCLA has yet to play in the rain under Kelly, and that his team hasn't practiced in the rain since August.

Wednesday also stood as the final personnel look we could get before the team goes behind closed doors ahead of their road trip to the Pacific Northwest.

Edge rusher Mitchell Agude was in and out of practice, standing off to the side when the defensive linemen did sled work to start off and then rejoining for sprints and dummy drills. Agude left the Arizona game with an injury and went into the medical tent, but returned soon after and missed less than a drive of action.

Defensive lineman Jay Toia also got hurt against the Wildcats, leaving the game on the final drive of the night with an undisclosed injury. He was practicing in full Monday, but not Wednesday. Toia seemed to be working on his lower body with a member of the training staff.

Unlike the other players in the injury area, Toia was in full pads and a helmet though. As a result, it isn't wild to assume he participated in drills later on in Wednesday's practice, but he just wasn't taking part in anything in the first 30 minutes when the media was able to observe.

Cornerback Mo Osling looked to be a full participant, but he did not start off with the 1s or 2s in red zone walkthroughs. Obi Eboh and Cam Johnson were the first cornerbacks out there, followed by Devin Kirkwood and Jay Shaw. Osling and John Humphrey lined up as the next pairing, so he was participating, just not as a de facto starter.

Defensive lineman Sitiveni Kaufusi, offensive lineman Thomas Cole, center Sam Marrazzo, defensive lineman Tyler Kiehne and offensive lineman Patrick Selna were all held out of practice entirely. So was receiver Colson Yankoff, who was seen moving around the field on a knee scooter with a boot on his right foot.

There was no sign of tight end Mike Martinez or running back Christian Grubb, who both have long-term injuries – Grubb tore his achilles last spring and Martinez has been seen wearing a boot in recent weeks.

The opening drill of practice was once again kickoff work, but this time it had the first team on the returning side, flipping the scout team to the other end after the past few practices had started with the scout team returning and starters kicking off. Receiver Kazmeir Allen and running back Keegan Jones are still the top two return men, with striker Martel Irby lining up back there beside them to call out holes and blocks. Receiver Chase Cota took back a return too, but it's unlikely we ever seen him fill that role in actual games this fall.

Catching up on a few scout team details from throughout the week, Chase Artopoeus was again lining up as the scout team quarterback. The purple jersey he was wearing was covered up by his yellow scout team player of the week jersey, but he was presumably wearing the No. 9 that belongs to Dylan Morris.

Parker McQuarrie was wearing No. 16 and Kajiya Hollawayne was wearing No. 17, both of which belong to freshman Husky receivers.

We counted nine players wearing scout team player of the week jerseys Wednesday, up from just four when they first introduced them back in Week 3.

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