UCLA Football Fall Camp Practice Report: August 17
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Most eyes in Westwood were glued to the Luskin Conference Center, which was hosting the much-anticipated UC Regents meeting regarding the Bruins' upcoming move to the Big Ten on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Chip Kelly & co. just a stone's throw away.
UCLA football ran its standard practice Wednesday, completing its 10th session of fall camp at Wasserman Football Center. Nearly two-thirds of the way through camp, it was a lot of the same for the Bruins, who kicked things off with special teams work and standard individuals in shells rather than full pads.
Defensive lineman Hayden Nelson was a new addition to the injured cohort, joining freshman safety Kamari Ramsey. Linebacker Ale Kaho was not out on the field or in the weight room, and neither were the rest of Tuesday's banged up players, such as running back Deshun Murrell, receiver Bradley Schlom or running back Brian Kowall.
USC transfer offensive lineman Liam Douglass was seen wearing a bucket hat on the far side of the field during warmups, but he did not join Nelson and Ramsey in the injured area when drills began.
Freshman running back TJ Harden had a quick stint in the injury shed, but he exited with a trainer and appeared to be a full participant from then on.
The linebackers and defensive backs were once again front and center for the media, while super senior Shea Pitts was, as was the case Tuesday, missing from the field. The rest of the linebackers remained the same, with Damian Sellers still not present and not on the official roster.
The defensive backs depth chart appears to have been tweaked a bit with the freshmen coming and going with some bumps and bruises over the past week.
Azizi Hearn and Devin Kirkwood were once again the starting cornerbacks, with Evan Thomas and Jaylin Davies running with the 2s and DJ Justice and Isaiah Newcombe lining up with the 3s. John Humphrey, who was a starter throughout almost all of spring camp, was again stuck with the fourth-stringers, even taking his reps after Justice, a recent receiver-convert.
Stephan Blaylock and Mo Osling III were the starting safeties, and they were backed up by Clint Stephens and Alex Johnson. Joshua Swift and Croix Stewart made up the third-string safeties, while Kaleb Tuliau and Jax Harley were the last to run the footwork drill.
In what little we saw from the offensive side of the field, receiver Devanti Dillard made a nice reaching grab on a crossing route away from the left sideline. Chase Griffin, Chase Artopoeus and Justyn Martin were grouped together at midfield for the first throwing drill, while Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Ethan Garbers led the group at the opposite goal line.
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