UCLA Football Fall Camp Practice Report: August 16

A couple of previously injured players returned to the field, while one veteran was not seen Tuesday morning at Wasserman Football Center.

Coach Chip Kelly's Tuesday morning press conference may have given more insight into the Bruins' current standing, but there was still a practice that took place after.

Kelly was asked about several question marks heading into UCLA football's 2022 season, with some answers standing out as more vague than the others. Linebacker Damian Sellers and offensive lineman Patrick Selna – neither of whom are listed on the official roster or have been seen at fall camp – were still labeled as unavailable.

Tight end Mike Martinez, on the other hand, was revealed to no longer be with the program.

Kelly did say that tight end Hudson Habermehl and linebacker Shea Pitts – two former walk-ons – are now on scholarship, but he did not provide an exhaustive list of every player who had made the same jump. Instead, Kelly answered yes or no until he was asked about kicker/punter Nicholas Barr-Mira, when he refused to continue the conversation.

Barr-Mira was back at full strength Tuesday after being banged up over the weekend, opening up practice with a few field goal attempts on the South field. Starting with a 25-yarder, he and the offensive line eventually backed up and attempted kicks from 40 yards and beyond.

Kelly was very vocal and hands on during the ensuing special teams drills, looking more fired up than usual while he gave directions to a group of players and a volunteer assistant coach. Outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe, who also holds the special teams coordinator title, managed to be louder, though, running from field to field, yelling and waving his arms to get players ready to go for kickoff blocking work.

Freshman defensive back Croix Stewart was another player who returned from injury, as he was unavailable the past few practices. Linebacker Ale Kaho, running back Deshun Murrell, running back Brian Kowall, receiver Bradley Schlom and defensive back Kamari Ramsey were all still held out, though. Kaho was still wearing a boot, but he did get on the stationary bike for a bit.

Pitts was not seen in the injured area, with the inside linebackers, with the outside linebackers or with the defensive backs. His current status is unknown.

For those who were full go in the inside linebackers drills with position coach Ken Norton Jr., he kicked things off with the same forced fumble, punch-out drill he has been running for the past week or so. He kept repeating the same mantra for nearly every rep – "See ball, get ball, gotta have it."

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