UCLA Football Practice Report: September 21
There were 11 players in the injured cohort Monday, and that group grew Tuesday morning.
No. 24 UCLA football (2-1) made it through all of fall camp, its first two games and its bye week without any of its starters going down with an injury. Now, top contributors and reserve players are getting dinged up, starting Saturday against Fresno State and continuing into Stanford prep week.
Defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia, safety Quentin Lake and tight end Mike Martinez were all injured against the Bulldogs. Martinez was seen in a boot with a leg scooter, while Ogbonnia, Lake and defensive lineman Martin Andrus were partial participants on the side, working with trainers in the opening six periods of practice Tuesday.
Again, left guard Siale Taupaki, defensive lineman Sitiveni Kaufusi, offensive lineman Benjamin Roy, linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald, running back Christian Grubb and Quintin Somerville did not participate and were not in pads or helmets.
New to the group of players nicked up Tuesday were running back Brittain Brown and edge rusher Mitchell Agude. Both were in and out of their position groups' drills, but also spent time stretching and working with trainers alongside Ogbonnia, Lake and Andrus.
Brown looked fine when he rejoined the running backs and receivers for route running drills, but Agude did not look like himself right away.
The Bruins' top pass rusher and backfield disrupter appeared between the two fields and did some squats, arm circles and warmups for a couple minutes with the other injured players. He eventually made his way back to the defensive linemen, looking very stiff on his jog over, and his change of direction was not great when he got back in the drills.
Safety Kenny Churchwell also took a little time to himself to jog and do sprints while the rest of the defensive backs were in a big group high-knee running over pads. Linebacker Caleb Johnson banged knees with a scout team player in contact drills. He grabbed it and took his time getting into the next line for his next rep, but he was a full participant from then on out.
After months and months of injury luck, UCLA may have gotten bit by the bug, but again, it's virtually impossible to tell how serious these nicks and bruises are at the moment.
On the practice field, the Bruins opened things up with field goals for the first time in a while. Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira hit from 35, 40, 45 and 50 yards out. Kicker Luke Akers took his first attempt from 5 yards closer, hitting from 30, 35 and 40 before getting blocked on his 45-yard attempt.
It was hard to see who got their hand on it since it was swatted at the line. Linebacker Kain Medrano was the one who secured the recovery though, catching it in the air and running it back untouched.
The other drill that stood out was one on the north field that pitted three wide receivers against three defensive backs. Volunteers and coaches would throw either a swing pass, bubble screen or slant to a scout team receiver, and the others would get out in front and block on the screens and swings.
There were a couple wins for the defense, but there were a few bad losses for the defensive backs when they overcommitted to the outside and allowed the scout team receiver to cut inside and upfield for a 20-yard score. The lone slant that was thrown was broken up by Jay Shaw on a really good play by the veteran cornerback.
Wednesday marks the final practice open to the media prior to Saturday's game against Stanford, which means it's the final look we'll have at where UCLA's injured players stand and how the team is preparing to bounce back from a last-second upset defeat.
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